A business survey of South Island businesses by advisors Polson Higgs and McCulloch and Partners found that they are more optimistic after the September 4 earthquake than before.Polson Higgs was evaluating the effects of the collapse of South Canterbury F
A business survey of South Island businesses by advisors Polson Higgs and McCulloch and Partners found that they are more optimistic after the September 4 earthquake than before.
Polson Higgs was evaluating the effects of the collapse of South Canterbury Finance, severe winter snowstorms, and more lately, the Canterbury earthquake.
The surveyors compared results with those of its previous survey, completed at the end of August, just before the major events.
Perversely, more companies were bullish about profitability, with 51% of respondents now expecting their business’ profitability to increase, compared with 47% previously.
In the August survey, 52.5% of businesses expected competition to increase – this has dropped to 45%.
The slight decline in competition is reflected in the expectations of an increase in profitability.
One of the biggest changes between the two surveys was in the cost of finance.
Before the major South Island events, 84.9% of those surveyed thought that these costs would increase compared with 74.5% in the follow-up survey.
There was a significant increase in those planning to get professional advice during the next 12 months – the figure jumping from 30% to 50%.
IT infrastructure continued to be a primary focus for businesses. In the August survey, more than half of the respondents had increased their investment in IT infrastructure, and this has now edged up to 58%.
