Gold Magazine February - March 2013, Issue 23 | Page 85

Long-term

confidence was
weakest in Europe
at 34%
survive and thrive amid disorder, CEOs
are pursuing three specific strategies:
targeting pockets of opportunity, concentrating on the customer and improving
operational effectiveness.
CEOs remain relatively cautious on
plans for increasing headcount for this
coming year. Some 45% of CEOs plan to
recruit in 2013 (down from 51% in 2012)
while 23% plan to reduce the size of
their workforce. Looking at which industries are recruiting and which are shedding
jobs shows an interesting picture. CEOs
most likely to be increasing headcount

are in business services (56%), engineering and construction (52%), retail (49%)
and healthcare (43%). While the biggest
number of CEOs planning headcount reductions are in banking (35%), the metal
industries (32%) and forestry and paper
(31%).
CEOs also recognise the need to build
trust with a wider set of stakeholders. 37%
worry that lack of trust in their industry

could endanger their company’s growth,
and 57% plan to focus more heavily on
promoting an ethical culture. In addition, nearly half of CEOs (49%) plan
to put more effort into reducing their
environmental footprint in the next 12
months.
The full survey report with supporting
graphics can be downloaded at www.pwc.
com/ceosurvey.

To what extent do you anticipate your company’s strategy
to change over the next 12 months?
9%

14%

18%

28%

63%

54%

49%

Cyprus
No change

32%

32%

Eurozone
Somewhat change

Global
Change in fundamental ways

CEOS IN CYPRUS MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT
LONGER-TERM GROWTH PROSPECTS

I

n the context of the global CEO
survey, PwC Cyprus carried out a
separate study for Cyprus which
includes the views of 32 Cypriot
CEOs.
According to the findings of the survey, 59% of CEOs in Cyprus are not
confident about their company’s prospects
for revenue growth over the next 12 months.
Just 6% of the survey participants stated
that they felt “very confident” about their
revenue prospects at a time where percentages reached 36% globally and 20% in the
eurozone. Some 40% of the respondents
described themselves as confident about
their short-term revenue growth prospects.
However, CEOs in Cyprus appear to be
more optimistic about their company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 3
years. The percentage of CEOs who stated
that they were “very confident” is 25%, an
increase of 22% on last year. It is worth noting that CEOs in Cyprus are more confident
(94%) regarding their medium-term revenue
growth prospects compared to CEOs in the

eurozone (82%) and globally (90%).
According to the findings, CEOs in Cyprus
view organic growth in the domestic market and the development of new products
or services as the main opportunities for
growth over the next 12 months, followed by
new operations in foreign markets, organic
growth in existing foreign markets and a new
M&A, joint venture and strategic alliance.
As regards the economic and policy
threats facing businesses today, 91% of respondents are worried about uncertain economic growth, while 88% are worried about
government’s response to fiscal deficit and
debt burden, as well as the lack of stability
in capital markets. The vast majority (91%)
of CEOs in Cyprus also expressed concern
about their inability to finance growth, while
84% are concerned about the shift in consumer spending and behaviours.
To counter these threats, 72% of CEOs in
Cyprus are planning changes to their strategy over the next 12 months. A massive
94% of Cypriot CEOs are planning to implement cost-reduction initiatives while

their top investment priorities focus on
growing their customer base and enhancing customer service.
Some 97% of Cypriot CEOs believe that
the government has not ensured financial
sector stability and access to affordable
capital, which is considered a priority by
the respondents.

THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, FINANCE & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MAGAZINE OF CYPRUS

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