Singapore business confidence hits 2-year high, though manufacturing outlook still muted: Survey
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The relatively upbeat outlook was largely due to the financial, construction and transportation sectors.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Chong Xin Wei
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SINGAPORE - Local business sentiment improved for the fifth consecutive quarter, hitting a two-year high in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Data released by the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau (SCCB) on Sept 9 showed that its Business Optimism Index rose marginally to 5.06 percentage points for the fourth quarter, from 4.94 percentage points for the third quarter.
Year on year, the index for the quarter was also higher than the 4.35 percentage points recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Similar to the previous quarter, indicators of sales volume, net profit, selling price, new orders and employment level stayed expansionary. Meanwhile, inventory levels rebounded to 0 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2024 from minus 1.48 percentage points in the quarter before.
Three of the six indicators improved on a quarter-on-quarter basis, namely sales volume, net profit and inventory levels, while selling price and new orders moderated.
Employment levels fell to 5.93 percentage points in the fourth quarter, from 6.67 percentage points in the previous quarter.
Year on year, both sales volume and net profit climbed to 7.41 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2024, from 3.73 percentage points and 2.24 percentage points, respectively.
Inventory levels for the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at 0 percentage point, recovering from the minus 2.24 percentage points recorded in the previous year. New orders moderated to 2.96 percentage points in the latest quarter, down from 3.73 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Selling price fell to 6.67 percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 11.19 percentage points in the year before, while employment levels dipped to 5.93 percentage points in the latest quarter from 7.46 percentage points in the prior year.
SCCB noted that the financial, construction and transport sectors were the most optimistic, with at least five out of six indicators in positive territory.
The manufacturing sector had only two of six indicators in positive territory, though sentiment improved slightly. Both volume of sales and net profit rebounded from the contractionary zone to 0 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2024, from minus 3.85 percentage points in the third quarter of 2024.
The outlook for both the wholesale and services sectors remained positive, with three of six indicators positive.
SCCB chief executive Audrey Chia expects a brighter quarter ahead for local firms.
She added that the relatively upbeat outlook by local firms was largely due to strong growth prospects within the financial, construction and transport sectors.
“Despite experiencing slight contractions in the recent months, the manufacturing sector has also shown signs of a possible recovery in the final quarter of 2024,” she said. “However, we would still caution on the geopolitical and economic downside risks globally.” THE BUSINESS TIMES
