With increasing market uncertainty, digital provides Canadian companies with opportunities to drive performance.
In the 21st edition of the EY Global Capital Confidence Barometer, Canadian respondents are expressing the strongest economic outlook in the survey’s history, with 100% expecting improvement in the domestic economy and 99% in the global economy over the next 12-months. Supporting this strong outlook, fewer than 20% of executives are predicting an economic slowdown before the end of 2021.
Canadian respondents are also seeing optimism at the micro level. When analyzing their own operations, 88% of Canadian respondents expect revenue growth and 91% expect net profit growth over the next 12 months. However, they also cite internal operations, such as a lack of internal inertia and a scarcity of talent, as the main challenges to their growth agenda.
Despite economic optimism, Canadian executives are cautious on M&A
Despite the economic optimism, Canadian respondents are expressing caution around deal intentions — the centerpiece metric of the Barometer. For the first time since 2014, the number of respondents actively pursuing M&A dropped below 45% (35%). This result is heavily influenced by the lack of M&A appetite in the mining and metals sector, where only 22% of respondents are actively pursuing deals.