OREANDA-NEWS. November 25, 2014. Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Survey conducted by SEB bank suggests that more than a half of large businesses in Baltic States (53%) expect that during next 12 months their turnover will increase.

Latvian companies are the most optimistic: 66% are certain that their turnover will increase and 11% of CFOs expect that this increase will exceed 10%.

Estonian corporations are the most cautious. Only 34% of respondents in Estonia see grounds for turnover growth up to 10% and another 11% expect a more rapid increase. In comparison with March when 65% of CFOs in large businesses in Baltics expected turnover increase, optimism has somewhat decreased in all three Baltic States. Share of those entrepreneurs which are worried their turnover might shrink has remained unchanged. However, the number of those companies hoping to keep their turnover at the present level has increased.

Ints Krasts, member of SEB Latvia management board: "We are glad to see that still more than a half of large corporations in Baltic hold an optimistic outlook since more often than not, the large companies are responsible for setting the general mood in their respective industries. Nevertheless we see that a degree of cautiousness is growing among large businesses. This is confirmed by responses from CFOs on other topics as well. For example, in March 33% of Baltic large companies planned to expand the number of their staff. Now only 26% plan to do so.

Also, we are glad to receive the good feedback that the attitude of banks in terms of lending is welcoming. We can see it in our results as well – between January and October SEB Latvia has issued more than 470 million euros in new lending to large companies and SMEs."

70% of respondents have said that their cooperation with banks in terms of crediting is either good or very good. Only 6% of CFOs in Baltic largest companies are not satisfied with lending attitude from their bank. In both Latvia and Lithuania, there has been a rise in the proportion of very dissatisfied businesses (in Latvia 10%, in Lithuania 8%), but at the same time, there has also been an increase in the proportion of businesses that are very satisfied (in Latvia 22%, in Lithuania 18%). This could be explained by the complex situation in several separate industries which are facing higher levels of risk.

Moreover, large enterprises in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have become less worried about interest rate growth. This is most evident in Lithuania, where businesses are increasingly coming to terms with the imminent introduction of the euro, because overall these changes involve more favourable financing conditions. Therefore, there has been an increase in the number of financial directors who expect a fall in interest rates; even though the majority believes that the status quo will prevail in this area.

The first survey of Baltic Chief Financial Officers was done in March this year. Another survey was completed in September to identify changes in their sentiment. Results reveal whether CFOs expect that next six months will bring good or bad news for businesses, identify which are the main concerns and challenges, indicate whether businesses plan to expand or decrease their workforce and give an insight in other topics as well. More than 160 largest companies with annual turnover over 20 million euros from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia participated in the survey.