Business is getting better

Thursday 23 January 2014

Jersey Finance is welcoming the latest Business Tendency Survey which shows increased levels of optimism and profitability.

The finance sector saw significant improvements in the latest quarter in a number of areas, with the indicator for 'Business Optimism' recording its highest level to date, and 'Future Business Activity' and 'Profitability' reaching their highest levels since 2011.

Geoff Cook, CEO, Jersey Finance said: “These latest figures from government are welcome confirmation of the recovery and growth that we have been seeing in the market place.  The long-term outlook as far as employment in the finance industry is concerned is positive on balance, with just over half of finance firms anticipating a rise in employment numbers in 2014. Profit expectations are also encouraging, with 42% of companies reporting that they anticipate profits to increase in the first quarter of 2014, and over half of financial services firms expecting profits to increase over the course of the whole year. It is particularly interesting that the legal subsector is optimistic on long-term profits.

“It is pleasing to see such figures and we are hopeful that these upward trends can be sustained by maintaining our plans for the development of the finance industry, the winning of new business in key markets, and through the support of Government and the regulator.”