Dip in Townsville business confidence

Townsville’s business confidence has slipped backwards after a strong start to 2024, according to the latest quarterly survey by the PVW Partners accounting and advisory firm. The June 2024 quarterly Business Confidence Survey resulted in an index of 1.7, a decrease of 3.9 from the previous quarter. "Whilst this may appear to be a significant decrease, the index is still in positive territory, higher than the June 2023 quarter and is similar to the September 2023 quarter,” PVW partner Sonia Chalk said. She said businesses were facing some uncertainty around local government elections at the time of the latest survey, which may have had an impact on the quarter’s results. "This quarter showed businesses across the board expected to see a decrease in both sales and consumer demand," she said. PVW partner Sonia Chalk. "The large decrease in these two measures has been the major contributor to the slide in the index. "In contrast to the sentiment of decreased sales and demand, there are actually fewer businesses planning to reduce advertising, travel and entertainment.” While the index had taken a step backwards, there remained some underlying confidence in the region that was not reflected in the overall decline in the index, she said. "It was pleasing to see that employment levels are expected to remain relatively stable, with a slight increase in the investment in staff through training," Ms Chalk said. "In addition, over 80 per cent of businesses were expecting to maintain or increase capital expenditure.” Survey participants were also aked to share their expectations for the upcoming Federal Budget. Last year about half of the respondents were expecting an increase in government expenditure in the 2023/2024 Federal Budget. Ms Chalk said fewer respondents (about 43 per cent) were expecting government expenses to increase in 2024/2025 relative to 2023/2024. "Interestingly, despite the recently announced amended Stage 3 tax cuts applying from 1 July 2024, 54 per cent of respondents are expecting higher tax rates or new taxes being announced when the budget is handed down on May 14 2024,” she said. Below: The Townsville Business Confidence Change Index across the past five years. You may also like: https://industryqld.com.au/state-smooths-path-for-eva-mine-townsville-polysilicon-plant https://industryqld.com.au/mou-backs-1-7bn-green-methanol-plan-for-townsville

Dip in Townsville business confidence

Industry Queensland

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