The election of a Coalition government and the upcoming silly season has businesses more confident of profit growth in coming months.
The confidence, however, hasn’t been so evident in South Australia.
Profit expectations have jumped to their highest level since the beginning of the year, the latest Dun and Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey shows.
The profit outlook for the final quarter of 2013 is also noticeably stronger than in corresponding periods in 2012 and 2011.
The survey showed 28 per cent of businesses expect to increase their profits in the next three months, although seven per cent forecast a reduction.
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Business expectations traditionally rise ahead of Christmas, but the outcome of the federal election had provided a further boost, Dun and Bradstreet corporate affairs director Danielle Woods said.
“Despite facing tough trading conditions throughout most of the year, businesses are indicating that they see some light at the end of the tunnel,” Woods said.
“There’s undoubtedly been a boost from last month’s change of government, with 65 per cent of businesses saying they are more confident about future business conditions.”
Low interest rates as well as the falling Australian dollar also contributed to rising confidence.
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The survey said 34 per cent of businesses expected a positive impact from the Aussie dollar’s move lower, while eight per cent expected a negative impact, and 58 per cent expected no impact.
In a separate survey of post-election confidence by insurance group Allianz Australia, South Australians are the least optimistic of all about the future of the economy..
“Overall, Australians’ optimism about the future of the economy has rebounded strongly following the Federal election; however, this is not the case among South Australians, who appear to have stolen Queensland’s traditional mantle as the least optimistic State when it comes to the future of the economy,” Allianz Australia Managing Director, Niran Peiris, said
“While the optimism score for all other States has risen since the election, particularly among West Australians, the optimism score for South Australia is in fact lower than the last survey in July. No other States has experienced such a reversal of fortunes.”
“The rise in optimism about the future of the economy was particularly apparent among Australians aged 65 and over, who are now more optimistic about the economy than at any time during the last three years.”
“While optimism rose among both men and women, there was a stronger rise in optimism about the future of the economy among men.”
