Deloitte’s latest UK CFO Survey, for Q1 2021, reports a record level of business optimism among the UK’s finance leaders.
CFOs anticipate a strong recovery in profits over the next 12 months, with profit expectations back to the previous high seen in mid-2014 at the top of the economic cycle.
A brighter backdrop has tilted companies away from defensive strategies such as cost control, while expectations for recruitment and investment have reached their highest levels in nearly six years.
Conducted between 17 and 30 March 2021, Deloitte’s latest quarterly CFO Survey captured the views of the UK’s largest businesses at the height of the third lockdown. Some 100 CFOs participated, including those of 21 FTSE 100 and 42 FTSE 250 companies.
Deloitte’s research comes as the UK eases lockdown restrictions following the initial success of its mass vaccination programme.
Progress in tackling the pandemic is reflected in a sharp decline in the number of CFOs rating external financial and economic uncertainty as high or very high – 46% in Q1 2021, compared with 71% in Q4 2020.
The pandemic is now seen as having a less negative effect than previously feared. The proportion of CFOs who think the pandemic will reduce capital spending in the next three years has dropped from 65% last summer to 19% in Q1.
And the proportion expecting the pandemic to reduce recruitment has fallen from 74% to 29% over the same period.
Impact of Brexit
The research suggests that CFO perceptions of economic uncertainty around Brexit have plummeted from the record levels seen a year ago. The successful rollout of vaccines in the UK, the prospective re-opening of the economy and a gathering US recovery have all helped.
Close to 10% of the surveyed CFOs have experienced significant or severe disruption to their businesses due to Brexit. However, CFOs believe that such disruptions will fade, with only 3% expecting significant or severe levels of disruption in a year’s time.
While CFOs continue to think Brexit will negatively impact the UK business environment in the long term, with the UK’s departure from the single market and customs union the issue has dropped down CFOs’ worry list from first or second place to seventh.
Brexit has weighed heavily on CFOs’ hiring, investment and M&A activities since the EU referendum, but such concerns have fallen away significantly since the end of last year.
CFOs continue to see the pandemic as posing the greatest risk to business, but even here concerns have eased. The only category of macro risk where concerns have risen sharply relates to the sideeffects of strong growth in the form of inflation and asset price bubbles.
Ian Stewart, Deloitte’s Chief Economist, said: “Brexit has been a significant dampener on business activity in the past four years, but with the UK’s final departure from the EU, such effects are fading.
"Combined with a successful vaccine rollout and a greatly improved global backdrop, we are seeing a turbo-charged surge in business optimism.
“Having come through the deepest downturn in 300 years, UK businesses are firmly focused on growth. Pent-up business and consumer demand are set to power a strong profits recovery, one already anticipated by the surge in equity markets since February.”
Return to the office
In this latest research, 67% of CFOs said they think the bulk of their firm’s employees will return to the office by Q3 2021.
Richard Houston, Deloitte’s Senior Partner and CEO, commented: “Business leaders are looking to combine the benefits of office working – from collaboration to innovation – with the flexibility of remote working.
"Technology transformations such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the cloud will play a big part in supporting this hybrid working model.
“Looking more broadly, it’s encouraging to see such a marked increase in sentiment among CFOs. The focus now needs to centre on expanding capacity and improving supply chains so that pent-up demand can be successfully met.
"Making the most of the long-term transformations sparked by the pandemic will be key to the future recovery of businesses and the economy.”
• To view the report click here