Been counters more confident

Fifty per cent of Chief Financial Officers believe now is a good time to take on risk, up 24 per cent from the previous quarter, according to the quarterly Deloitte CFO Survey of the ASX 300.

Of the last nine reports, only twice have there been more CFOs showing an increased appetite to take on risk, with the last time, being in the first quarter of 2014.

While most respondents were worried about the collapse of commodity prices and its effect on Australia’s export revenues, the survey found the the slide in the $A  and the most recent  cut in interest rates had lifted confidence among CFOs. Nearly 60 per cent expected interest rates to be cut further this year.

And good news for the banking sector came with the number of CFOs intending to increase gearing for their company to double from the last quarter, up from a net negative of 17 per cent to a net positive of 15 per cent in the first quarter of 2015.

The survey seems to show that after a period of strategic consolidation and higher dividend payouts more Australian companies might be back on a growth path. Many investment bankers are predicting this year will be a big one for domestic mergers and acquisitions after a fairly quiet 2014.

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