PRESS RELEASE - BDO AMBITION SURVEY REPORT - 20 September 2011
Global CFOs are optimistic about cross-border growth
China, the USA & Germany are the top 3 countries for global investors
- The BDO study gives unique insight into the international expansion plans of global mid-cap CFOs and highlights an extremely positive outlook - 95% are confident that their three year plans will succeed
- Finding the right people with the right skills and knowledge is significantly more challenging than finding the money to expand abroad
- CFOs see China as offering the greatest expansion opportunity – but opportunity and risk go hand in hand
BDO’s annual Global Ambition Survey of CFOs of 750 mid-cap companies in 13 countries reveals nearly all (95%) are in a confident mood about their global expansion plans, despite the current economic climate and the perceived risks and difficulties of expanding abroad. On average, they predict that in three years’ time almost half (44%) of their revenues will come from overseas business - up from 37% currently.
Surprisingly, there appears to be little concern over access to credit, with 69% of CFOs claiming they have no difficulty in gaining funding for expansion. The greater challenge is finding local people with the right skills and knowledge. Over half (52%) of all respondents put finding the right people in their top three areas of focus for international investment.
In the survey’s Global Market Opportunity Index, which measures the popularity of each country alongside the intention to expand, China presents three times the business opportunity of UK, Brazil or France (ranking joint 5 & 7 respectively). In China, opportunity and risk go hand in hand, though, as it is also perceived as being one of the most challenging countries to do business in.
The Report reveals that CFOs are primarily interested in market size and growth opportunities when investing abroad and are consequently focusing on China, USA and Germany as they seek expansion overseas. Intensity of local competition, red tape and bureaucracy are seen as the key challenges. Despite the economic climate, less than a third (28%) say that doing business abroad is getting more difficult, with many citing the financial crisis as a primary cause.
The Global Ambition Survey is part of BDO’s ongoing programme to identify the challenges facing mid-cap companies as they seek to expand. The network itself has made significant progress in China in recent years: revenues increased by 64% in the year 2009 to 2010 and personnel numbers have grown four-fold over a four year period.
BDO CEO Martin van Roekel comments: “In the second year of the BDO Ambition Survey, our research shows that an overwhelming number of CFOs are confident and surprisingly optimistic that their businesses will continue to expand internationally, given the state of the global economy.
“However, it’s clear that the CFOs BDO surveyed are aware that it is not good enough to assume that standard business practices will work across cultures when entering a new market,” he adds. “They recognise the importance of conducting proper research, seeking good, solid advice and, above all, of having talented, local people on the ground”.
He concludes: “On a further positive note, these companies move quickly once the decision is made to invest overseas: half of the CFOs we spoke to claim that a new office can be up and running within a year”.
About the survey
The BDO Ambition Survey conducted by Strategy One interviewed over 750 CFOs from businesses turning over between $50m and US $1bn in 13 countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UK, USA).
Key findings
- Top 3 opportunity factors: market size, access to new customers and higher growth rates
- Top 3 challenges: intensity of local competition, red tape and bureaucracy
- There is a strong link between size of potential market and proportion of future revenues: 60% say market size is of particular interest to their company’s expansion plans
- Market size is particularly applicable for companies expanding to the USA (76%) and China (75%)
- 22% of Chinese CFOs say Germany is a particular focus for expansion, second only to the USA (33%)
- Higher growth rates drive interest in China (64%) and Brazil/India (62% each)
- Those targeting the BRIC markets are still concerned about red tape and bureaucracy: Brazil 58%, Russia 57%, China 50% and India 43%
- Cheaper labour rates are particularly applicable to companies expanding in India (43%), China (40%) and Brazil (29%)
- Amongst those struggling to find the right people, a lack of specialist skills (44%) and reliability of staff (33%) are key challenges
- 78% of CFOs claim that the challenges when expanding abroad are greater than at home
- 70% of CFOs say they will focus on expanding within their core sector.
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