CFO Confidence in Policy Changes Wanes, Despite Positive Outlook, Study Finds
Middle-market companies will need to rely more on internal tactics to bump up performance in 2018, a poll of CFOs from Citizens Commercial Banking found.
Midsize companies will need to rely more on internal tactics to bump up performance in 2018, as confidence in policies under the existing presidential administration is waning, a new study polling the opinions of CFOs has found.
“CFOs still believe that changes to current tax policies will benefit their companies, but they have lower expectations that change to trade and regulatory policies will impact their bottom line,” according to the study from Citizens Commercial Banking, titled “CFO Outlook 2018.”
Some 81 percent of the 300 CFOs of middle-market companies surveyed said a key objective in 2018 is to improve operational efficiencies, followed by expansion into new domestic markets and new product development.
To meet their goals, the survey noted that CFOs expect to leverage technology, with moves such as increasing electronic payments and investment in big data.
“CFOs still believe that changes to current tax policies will benefit their companies but they have lower expectations that change to trade and regulatory policies will impact their bottom line.”
“By and large, the CFOs we surveyed are watching the prospects for tax reform closely, said Steve Woods, head of corporate banking for Citizens Commercial Banking, in a statement accompanying the release of the study. “However, confidence in the new administration’s ability to enact its pro-business agenda appears to be mixed, and companies are continuing to focus on self-funding of growth initiatives.”
Ready the full study on the Citizens Commercial Banking site.
Deborah Cohen is the editor-in-chief of Middle Market Growth.
