What is the survey about?
The Survey of Business Expectations is a quarterly survey which highlights the South Australian business community’s view of current and future economic conditions. In partnership with advisory firm
William Buck, the results are analysed, deciphered and published in our quarterly joint publication, Business Now.. These results inform Business SA policy and advocacy work and provide a robust indicator to government and other stakeholders of the business environment in South Australia. You can view all the past results
here.
December Quarter Results
Business confidence has recovered slightly and risen for the first time in 12 months, rising 13.5 points since September to reach 85.1 points, in the Business SA – William Buck Survey of Business Expectations. However, the index still remains in negative territory, well below the neutral level of 100 points.
Conditions improved significantly, rising by 18.6 points during the quarter to reach 97.3 points. It’s the largest quarterly increase – of 24 per cent – since 2015.
Business trends improved across a range of indices, reflected improved conditions and confidence. Profitability, forward orders, and sales and revenue improved, and the costs of overheads fell slightly.
Insights: Jamie McKeough, Managing Director, William Buck
It’s good to finally see business confidence and conditions turning around in South Australia, granting the state’s hard-working SME owners a reprieve from the downward trend we’ve experienced over the past year. It’s also a great way to kick of the new year and the new decade.
Improving local confidence is imperative. We live in a state that’s small enough to know someone who knows someone who knows everyone. When people are struggling we all talk about it, and we feel it collectively. But when business is looking up, we share our positive news. Optimism is now seeping back into conversations.
It appears a range of internal factors also had a significant impact on this quarter’s results, with major external events less influential. The recent bushfires and the coronavirus outbreak had less of an impact during the quarter, the US-China trade deal has settled and we all seemed to take advantage of our summer break to recover from a challenging year.”
Business SA Survey of Business Expectations, powered by
Read the report below