SEB survey: The confidence of CFOs in Swedish companies is the lowest in the last 15 years

In the opinion of financial managers of Swedish companies, the last time business opportunities there were so poor was during the 2008 global financial crisis, according to a survey conducted in Sweden by SEB and Deloitte. Cost cutting has become a priority, and the biggest question marks are related to economic growth.

"2023. In the macro situation of the fall of 2018, the central banks are the key, whose steps depend on the direction of economic development. If in the spring of 2023 it was still possible to hold out, now it must be recognized that economic activity is very different from sector to sector and region to region. In Europe, a slowdown can be seen in both the manufacturing industry and the service sector, which is reflected in the results of the recent CFO survey," said SEB Group macro analyst Marcus Widén.

Only 20% of Swedish CFOs see favorable business opportunities in the next six months, compared to 41% in the spring. At the same time, the pessimists now prevail - if in the spring the balance was +18 percentage points, now it has dropped by 28 points. After the 2008 financial crisis, this is the lowest indicator and the biggest annual fall. First of all, this results from the decline in sentiment in the industrial sector, where 50% of financial managers consider the conditions unfavorable, while only 15% of respondents had the same opinion in the spring.

"The loss of confidence of Swedish companies is not good news for Estonian companies and several sectors for which the overseas neighbour has been an important export partner. Still high interest rates and reduced demand do not promise a quick change in the situation. Estonian entrepreneurs have been able to cope with the circumstances so far, but in many cases it comes at the cost of previous savings and optimization of operations," said Peep Jalakas, SEB's head of corporate banking.

The survey of financial managers of large Baltic companies conducted by SEB in September showed that the confidence of large Estonian companies has also received a big blow in the last year. Only 25% of financial managers of large Estonian companies consider the business environment very favorable or favorable, which is the lowest figure in ten years. At the same time, the concern of Baltic finance managers about the availability of labor and raw materials has decreased.

The biggest optimists are the financial managers of large Lithuanian companies, 51% of whom consider the economic conditions very favorable or favorable, and the corresponding percentage in Latvia is 39. The biggest concern for Baltic companies is the general economic conditions and growth prospects - in Estonia 58% considered this to be an important risk factor - which has pushed back the leading companies last year geopolitical risks.