Finance chiefs see more reasons to be cheerful in 2013

But the strategies of large UK businesses haven’t significantly changed over the period, according to the latest Deloitte CFO Survey, published yesterday.

Optimism is up sharply from the lows seen at the end of 2011, and fears of a return to recession or a euro break-up, have eased, according to the research. The probability of a euro break-up within the next 12 months is rated at 22 per cent compared to 37 per cent a year ago.

The survey gauged the views of chief financial officers (CFOs) and finance directors from 112 major companies, including 36 FTSE 100 and 38 FTSE 250 businesses, about whether UK government policy for business is appropriate.

Monetary policy, which includes interest rates, inflation and the availability of credit, received the strongest vote of confidence, with a net 81 per cent of finance chiefs rating it as appropriate.

Ian Stewart, chief UK economist at Deloitte, said: “Despite expectations of a weak recovery in 2013 large companies enter the New Year with a greater focus on cost control and cash flow than at any time in the last two years. The emerging picture is of businesses which are constrained by low growth and uncertainty rather than weakness in business models or access to capital.

“Despite confidence fluctuating with the ups and downs in economic prospects, we’ve seen a long-term drift to greater defensiveness by corporates not for want of capital but rather for scarcity of opportunity.

“The dominant concern of UK businesses for 2013 is the economy, just as it has been at the start of each of the last four years. Confidence has returned, but perceptions of economic and financial uncertainty remain high and the greatest worries for CFOs are still the weakness of the euro area and UK economies.

“Yet corporates have not closed the door to growth. About half of CFOs think that troubled times create opportunities to take market share and expand capacity or to implement overdue change within the business. Big businesses are also more positive about undertaking capital expenditure than they were a year ago. The difference now is that such opportunities are more selective.”