* The third quarter Deloitte survey of UK Chief Financial
Officers is published this morning. A mood of optimism pervades the
report. The full survey report is available at:
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GB/uk/research-and-intelligence/deloitte-research-uk/the-deloitte-cfo-survey/index.htm
* CFOs see fewer risks in the global economy and greater opportunities for expansion. Optimism has risen for five consecutive quarters and is close to a three year high.
* The defensive strategies of cost cutting and cash accumulation
that saw corporates through the global financial crisis are
increasingly out of favour. The top priority for CFOs now is
expansion.
* CFOs have become more positive on prospects for growth in the
developed world and slightly less positive on growth in emerging
markets.
* CFOs are increasingly confident that the euro area will hold
together and are looking to Europe for expansion. In a reversal of
the situation six months ago CFOs believe that UK growth will have
a more positive effect on their investment plans in the next year
than growth in emerging markets.
* It is symptomatic of the changed attitude that a record 54% of
CFOs say that now is a good time to take risk onto their balance
sheet.
* CFOs rate credit as being cheaper and more available than at any
time in the last six years. Favourable credit conditions and high
levels of corporate cash suggest that major corporates have the
firepower to invest. The pressure on companies from the
institutional investors to do so is mounting. Bank of
America/Merrill Lynch's September fund managers' survey
found that 54% of investors want companies to cut cash levels and
boost capital spending, an eight year high.
* The last big upswing in CFO confidence, in 2010/11, foundered on
the euro crisis. We need to be alive to external shocks which could
derail this incipient recovery.
* But what this quarter's CFO Survey reveals is a more
confident corporate sector, one which is increasingly focussing on
growth.
MARKETS & NEWS
UK's FTSE 100 fell 1.4% last week.
Here are some recent news stories that caught our eye as reflecting key economic themes:
KEY THEMES
* UK Prime Minister David Cameron plans to bring forward the
launch of the Help to Buy mortgage scheme from next January to this
week to help more people onto the housing ladder
* The UK Chancellor George Osborne gave the Bank of England the
power to dilute the effect of the government's Help to Buy
housing scheme if there are signs it is creating a housing
boom
* Lloyds List, the world's oldest business paper, which has
provided shipping news from London since 1734, is abandoning its
print version and going fully digital
* Blackberry was sold for $4.7bn to a consortium of Canadian
investment companies
* A senior official of the US Federal Reserve said the US economy
does not yet have enough momentum to justify slowing the pace of
Quantitative Easing
* The Leader of the UK Labour Party, Ed Milliband, said he would
reverse a planned Coalition cut in Corporation Tax and would freeze
energy prices for 20 months
* UK retailer Tesco entered the tablet market with the launch of
its £119 Hudl device
* The number of people entering the UK on investor visas –
which allow someone with in excess of £1mn to invest in the
UK to remain resident – has risen ten fold since 2008
* BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders is to join JP Morgan
Asset Management as chief market strategist
* The productivity of British workers rose for the first time in 2
years, rising 0.5% in the 3 months to June
* UK consumer confidence rose in September to its highest in
almost 6 years
* The UK's Office for National Statistics reported that 53.2%
of the UK's £1.8tn stock market is owned by international
investors, up from 43.4% in 2010, driven largely by M&A
activity
* Eurythmics musician Dave Stewart unveiled plans for a new bank,
to be called 'First Artist Bank', which will offer funding
as well as "management of digital assets and intellectual
property" to musicians
* Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi pulled his
ministers out of the cabinet, triggering a search by Italy's
left of centre prime minister for new coalition partners
* A consortium of bidders led by US private equity firm Corsair
was selected to take ownership of up to 49% of the 314 Royal Bank
of Scotland Branches, with a new "ethical" bank to be
created under the old Williams & Glyn's brand
* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a speech in which
he claimed that "just as Gordon Gekko made a comeback in the
financial world...so too can we now say that 'Japan is
Back'"
* The UK luxury yacht sector has enjoyed its best year since 2008,
with a return to growth of 3.9% in 2012/13
* Census data show that twice as many people in Scotland speak
Polish at home as use Gaelic as their main language
* Sales of electricity assisted bicycles, or 'e-bikes',
have seen strong growth in Europe this year, rising by 15% in
France, whilst sales of traditional bikes fell by 9%
* The fifth installment of the Grand Theft Auto video game made
$800m on its first release day and made $1bn of sales in only 3
days
* A 5 month old restaurant run by a 26 year old chef in a
converted public toilet in Bermondsey, South London, has been
awarded a Michelin star
* Lincolnshire County Council has halved the number of people who
hang up while on hold by replacing traditional hold music with
"beige-pop" hits by acts such as Lighthouse Family and
Billy Ocean – "got a hold on me"
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