Survey: CFOs More Confident, But Remain Cautious

Over the past year, chief financial officers have becomemore optimistic, but nevertheless remain cautious in their outlook on theoverall health of the economy according to the first quarter 2010 "CFOOutlook Survey" conducted jointly by Financial Executives Internationaland Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business.

The CFO Optimism Index for the U.S. economy continuedrising for the third consecutive quarter, and increased to 58.14 in Q12010.This is nearly a 33 percentincrease from an all-time low of 38.96 one year ago, but a modest improvementover the fourth quarter of 2009.

CFOs' optimism toward their own companies rose anothertwo points from Q4, reaching 69.49. This represents an 18 percent increase fromwhat it was one year ago (58.93).Significantly, CFOs are predicting double-digit percentage increasesover the next 12 months in net earnings (26 percent), revenue (13 percent),capital spending (13 percent) and technology spending (10 percent).

Close to half of the CFOs do not foresee the recoverytruly underway until the first half of next year, or later.Their overall concern about inflationis heightened, and 38 percent of CFOs stated their concern has increased sincelast quarter.

The CFO survey polled 368 corporate finance officers fromboth public and private companies and across a broad range of industries.

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