DESPITE one business sentiment survey showing 85 per cent of the nation’s business executives have a positive outlook for the year ahead, Western Australia has bucked the trend of improved business confidence, according to another separate survey.
In a bi-annual survey of 372 small to large Australian businesses by business intelligence provider, Veda Advantage, 15 per cent of executives said they are suffering large amounts of bad debt, down from 34 per cent in March and 41 per cent in October 2008.
Veda general manager, Russell Evans said there was an optimistic outlook for businesses and their recovery.
However, a National Australia Bank survey of 700 small to medium enterprises in the September quarter suggested WA remained the only state in Australia to have seen no improvement in customer confidence and demand among SMEs.
NAB group executive of business banking, Joseph Healy, said despite the nation’s positive survey results, businesses should remain “cautiously optimistic” about improving business conditions.
Veda’s survey said while the number of businesses suffering from debt in Australia had dropped, nearly 40 per cent of the businesses surveyed continued to be affected by liquidity and cash-flow issues.
As a result, 55 per cent of businesses said their ability to pay bills on time was affected, an increase of 7 per cent from last year’s result.
The number of businesses forced to reduce costs due to financial uncertainty rose to 62 per cent this year, up from 53 per cent last October.
And executives continue to be wary, with more than half suggesting it could take up to two years for conditions to return to those seen before the global financial crisis.
