The Jersey Statistics Unit has released the results of the June 2017 Business Tendency Survey.
The quarterly survey provides qualitative information about the island’s economy. Chief Executives and Managing Directors are asked for their opinions on the current situation of their business compared with three months earlier and their expectations for the next three months.
June 2017 highlights
• The headline all-sector business activity indicator was +25 percentage points – the proportion of businesses reporting an increase was 25 percentage points greater than those reporting a decrease
• The business activity indicator was slightly higher than three months ago, when it was +18 percentage points
• Six of the eight current indicators were positive – only profitability and input costs were negative
• Product prices and business optimism indicators were both positive and improved from last quarter
• The only indicator to change, by more than 10 percentage points, was the profitability indicator, which increased by 14 percentage points to a neutral -2 percentage points. Three-fifths (61 per cent) of companies reported no change in profits, with the remaining two-fifths split between increases (18 per cent) and decreases (21 per cent)
• The profitability indicator was positive for the finance sector and for wholesale and retail, while it was negative for other sectors
• The majority of companies reported higher input costs (producing a strongly negative indicator), particularly in the non-finance sector, where over two-thirds (68 per cent) of businesses saw higher costs – slightly higher than last quarter (64 per cent)
• The last time such a large proportion of companies reported increased input costs was in 2011
• The finance sector was more positive than the non-finance sector. Five of the eight indicators relating to the current situation were more positive for the finance sector, three of them by over 20 percentage points
Outlook for the next three months
• The outlook for future business activity was strongly positive, with the finance sector more positive than other sectors
• The outlook for future employment was positive, although a majority of companies expected no change
To view the full report, click here