Produced bi-annually by Oxford Economics on behalf of BITA, the latest Outlook reveals that members’ confidence has declined since the last survey in Spring 2017.
Just over half feel that general economic prospects for the coming 12 months remain unchanged compared to 85% of respondents who felt this was the case in the Spring survey.
Meanwhile, just over 20% of respondents felt less optimistic about general prospects for the coming 12 months whereas no respondents felt this way in the previous survey.
BITA secretary-general James Clark said: “Looking across the last four Outlook reports, overall optimism was high in May 2016, took a dip in the Autumn report, with optimism returning, albeit at a lower level, in the Spring 2017 report, only to dip again this time. So quite a rollercoaster ride of sentiment among members – perhaps reflecting the volatility of the political and economic situation.”
Additional findings show:
- 80% of respondents expect a modest rise in sales over the next year, but 10% now expect a ‘modest fall’ in sales (weaker than the Spring survey)
- Around 25% expressed that their order books are ‘modestly better than normal’ compared to 70% in the Spring survey – and 10% now see their order positions as ‘modestly below normal’
- A lower proportion of respondents (40%) expect prices to rise modesty, compared to 70% in the Spring survey, which could indicate that respondents feel the worst of higher inflation has now past.
- Counterbalance orders have been weak and volatile but are expected to rise modestly this year by 4.1% year-on-year, easing down to 1.7% growth in 2018
Clark concluded: “This latest Oxford Economics report presents an intriguing picture of our members’ mood. Looking across the last four reports shows a real rollercoaster of sentiment around general economic prospects among BITA members, with optimism and pessimism ebbing and flowing with the national political and economic position. It will be interesting to see what 2018 brings.”
