CFO optimism for 1st qtr declines moderately, says D&B report

The level of optimism about business environment among chief financial officers of domestic firms declined slightly for the first quarter of this calendar year, according to a survey by Dun & Bradstreet.
According to the global research firm, the optimism level among CFOs in the services sector has slightly improved for the first quarter of 2015 (January-March) over Q4 2014 (October-December) while the optimism level in the industrial sector has declined.
The Dun & Bradstreet Composite CFO optimism index witnessed the second consecutive quarter of decline but remained high on a year-on-year basis.
The Composite CFO optimism index for the first quarter of 2015 declined by around 1.6 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis but increased by around 49 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Arvind Raghav, Director - Risk Management Solution, Dun & Bradstreet India said: "The survey conducted by D&B India reveals that the optimism among the CFOs has been moderating since Q4 2014."
Factors responsible for the moderation in optimism level include, impasse regarding the clearance of some of the major bills and "fragile" global economic environment.

"The impasse regarding the clearance of some of the major bills during the "Winter Session of the Parliament" has tempered the optimism level among the CFOs.
The fragile global economic environment coupled with expectations that global financing conditions would eventually tighten has begun to weigh down on the optimism level," Raghav said.

However, the optimism level stands elevated as compared to the year ago period.
"Easing of inflationary pressures, reduction in the repo rate and precipitous fall in the global crude oil prices have created a favourable domestic macroeconomic environment for the corporate sector to some extent," Raghav said.