WA businesses more confident on year ahead

Confidence in the economy over the coming 12 months by local small and medium businesses has jumped to its highest level since December 2010, with Western Australian SMEs more bullish than most others in Australia, a new report says.

WA businesses are now the second-most confident in Australia about the future projections for the economy, a Sensis Business Index survey has found, with WA’s net balance score of +15 up 12 points for the quarter.

“The economic results this quarter told a very interesting story,” Sensis chief executive John Allan said.

“Businesses continue to feel the economy is in bad shape, with the net balance going backwards.

“However, when you ask them what is going to happen to the economy in a year’s time the score is very positive and has improved dramatically this quarter.”

Mr Allan said the index, which reflects the views of 1,000 SMEs from across Australia, revealed business confidence in WA was steady this quarter at +21 but remained the second-lowest nationally.

“Businesses in Perth continue to outperform those in regional parts of the state with the gap widening to 18 points this quarter,” he said.

“The businesses that are struggling to continue to worry about a poor business environment and falling sales.”

According to the report, confidence in Perth grew by 1 point during the quarter to +25, while in regional WA confidence was down 4 points to +7.

On a national level, business confidence fell 2 points to +44 but remains the index’s best result since March 2010.

“We saw big declines in confidence in the manufacturing and hospitality sectors this quarter, driven by poor sales results, with manufacturing really struggling compared to the other industries,” Mr Allan said.

“Fortunately, expectations are for an improvement in sales this quarter.”