Dun & Bradstreet Composite CFO Optimism Index Q2-2020

Dun & Bradstreet Composite CFO Optimism Index declined by 15.0% (q-o-q) to 74.2 during Q3 2020

Mumbai, September 21, 2020: A recent survey of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) conducted by business decisioning data and analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet, found that the confidence in financial and macro-economic conditions has declined. The pan-India survey compared confidence levels from Q3 (Jul-Sep of the calendar year 2020) with the same quarter of the previous year. Based on the responses, the Dun & Bradstreet Composite CFO Optimism Index showed a decline of 15.0%, on a q-o-q basis to 74.2 during Q3 2020, bringing the Index to a record low.

The Index, encapsulates the optimism level of CFOs surveyed on 12 parameters such as operating margin, liquidity position, level of financial risk on company’s balance sheet, risk appetite, need for raising short term and long term funds, cost of raising funds, availability of funds, domestic and global macroeconomic scenario, overall scenario for mergers and acquisitions, level of financial risks for corporate sector as a whole

Dun & Bradstreet Composite CFO Optimism Index analyses the optimism level of CFOs on 12 parameters: operating margin, liquidity position, level of financial risk on company’s balance sheet, risk appetite, need for raising short term and long term funds, cost of raising funds, availability of funds, domestic and global macroeconomic scenario, overall scenario for mergers and acquisitions, and level of financial risks for corporate sector as a whole.

The survey of the CFOs also revealed the following insight on the overall business climate in India:

• The macroeconomic scenario sub index value at 87.5 is the lowest in nearly seven years, the index was at its lowest value of 77.5 during Q4 2013. The financial performance sub index is at its lowest value of 67.1 during Q3 2020
• Optimism levels for financial performance of the company declined by 21.0% (q-o-q) and optimism level for macroeconomic scenario declined by 4.6% (q-o-q)
• The percentage of CFOs expecting an increase in the operating margin (21%) and liquidity position (20%) of their companies is the lowest ever
• The percentage of CFOs indicating a need for raising short-term funds (22%) and long-term funds (15%) is the lowest ever
• 23% of CFOs expect the global macro-economic scenario to be favourable during Q3 2020, which is lowest in eight years
• 41% of CFOs expect the domestic macro-economic scenario to be favourable during Q3 2020, up from 31% in Q2 2020
• 68% of CFOs have stated cash flow management to be their priority in the next six months