The Economist Intelligence Unit: Global executives express severe pessimism amidst covid-19 pandemic
April 24 2020 - 3:00AM
JCN Newswire (English)
As society-wide lockdowns ensue, the Economist
Intelligence Unit reveals private-sector sentiment through its
Global Business Barometer.
|
SINGAPORE, Apr 24, 2020 - (Media OutReach) - As the covid-19
pandemic sweeps the globe, companies are decidedly more pessimistic
about the global economy than their own prospects, according to a
new study released by the Economist Intelligence Unit today. The
Global Business Barometer, supported by SAS, is based on a survey
of over 2,700 executives worldwide and provides a compelling
snapshot of corporate sentiment in the midst of the worst public
health crisis in a century.
- Sentiment about the global economy over the next three months
registered at -39.2 on a scale of -50 (much worse) to +50 (much
better).
- Executives tend to be less pessimistic about prospects for their
own industry (-22.0) and company (-17.8) over the same period.
- No industry will be spared from the impact of covid-19 but nearly
all respondents do not see revenue or profitability cratering.
Optimism in short supply: Very few executives reported optimistic
outlooks for the global economy over the next three months,
resulting in a barometer reading of -39.2 (-50.0 being the most
dire possible). Some regions were more pessimistic than others,
with Europe (-40.4) and Asia-Pacific (-40.4) at the far end,
although executives in Asia-Pacific were least pessimistic (-31.8)
about their own country's economy than the four other regions.
Cognitive dissonance: Executives are more optimistic about the
state of their own organisations than the global economy. The
global reading for the three-month outlook for "your industry" was
-22.0 and -17.8 for "your company", suggesting that executives
either feel they have more control at these levels - as opposed to
the macro-economy - or that they believe their organisations may
still see some success despite the global economic impact of
covid-19.
Meaner and leaner: Global executives have shown greater positivity
than expected around revenue and profitability. However, except for
retail and e-commerce, the 13 other industries covered by the
barometer do expect declines, led by travel and tourism (-11.3 on
revenue growth) and entertainment and media (-10.9 on
profitability). The two key business continuity strategies that
global executives seem to be adopting are taking market share
(+2.1) and improving operational agility (+7.0).
The road ahead: Most executives surveyed (46%) believe that it will
take between 1-2 years from the outbreak for their businesses to
recover, while others (40%) believe that they will be able to
bounce back in "less than a year". Only 10% believe it will take
3-5 years.
The executive summary, highlights video, and podcasts are available
at globalbusinessbarometer.economist.com
For further information or interview requests, please contact:
Chris Clague
Managing editor, Global editorial lead, Trade and globalization
christopherclague@economist.com
+81 80 5677 8413
Myriam Khan
Account Director, Client Solutions, UK
myriam.khan@tvcgroup.com
+44 778 428 0231
Alice Tong
Head of marketing, Content Solutions, APAC
alicetong@economist.com
+65 8879 8320
About the research
The Global Business Barometer gauges sentiment towards current
events and financial market uncertainty and explores how businesses
are coping today and planning for the future. The survey was
fielded online among 2,758 executives from 118 countries around the
world between March 26th and April 6th 2020. Sixty-four percent of
the executives are based in western markets, 36% from
emerging/newly industrialised countries. The study represents both
MNCs (46%) and non-MNCs (54%). C-Suite members comprise 43% of the
survey panel. More analysis can be found on
globalbusinessbarometer.economist.com.
About The Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is the thought leadership, research
and analysis division of The Economist Group and the world leader
in global business intelligence for executives. We uncover novel
and forward-looking perspectives with access to over 650 expert
analysts and editors across 200 countries worldwide. More
information can be found on eiuperspectives.economist.com. Follow
us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
About SAS
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and
services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to
transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO
KNOW(R).
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit
Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. |
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