SEA CFOs bullish about Asia’s growth prospects

Eight in 10 see revenue growth.

A survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows that Southeast Asia’s chief financial officers are the most bullish in Asia when it comes to earnings and revenue growth forecasts for 2013.

The poll surveyed 604 chief financial officers across 12 Asian countries. Results show that 81% of executives in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines expect revenue at their companies to grow and 72% forecast expansion in net profit.

This is markedly higher than the Asia Pacific average of 71% and 62%, respectively.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said resilient domestic demand in Southeast Asia is key to explaining the optimism they are seeing. In general, countries in Asia Pacific are experiencing a slowdown in exports, while countries in Southeast Asia are still enjoying strong economic growth relative to the rest of the world, fueled in part by domestic consumer spending.

The survey also shows that 43% of CFOs in Southeast Asia think their companies will use surplus cash to expand businesses, almost double the Asia Pacific average of 25%. More than half of the CFOs in Southeast Asia expect their companies will borrow more this year to fund growth higher than the 36% average for Asia-Pacific region.