Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 12th May 2010 - Global economic growth is progressing steadily, but full recovery will not be reliably under way until December 2010, according to the latest edition of the bi-annual Regus BusinessTracker survey. The survey's 15,000 respondents reported a higher percentage of businesses seeing revenue and profit growth than were experiencing decline. However, respondents, who were asked "When do you expect economic recovery and growth to be advancing strongly and reliably in your country?" have now shifted their expectation of the full momentum of economic recovery back five months, from July to December. In the UAE specifically net growth companies are only positive by +1% and companies do not expect the full momentum of recovery until the first half of 2011.
The key findings of this worldwide survey emphasize that the business community needs to retain an element of caution in their optimism. The study revealed net growth globally, with 12% more firms reporting a rise in revenues rather than a decline, and 8% more companies experiencing an increase in profits rather than a reduction. However, businesses across the globe need to stay focused on strategies for cost management, streamlining and greater operating flexibility.
The second edition of the Regus BusinessTracker international economic indicator survey was conducted in over 75 countries and canvassed over 15,000 respondents about the financial performance of their companies and their expectations for growth.
The survey also analyzed the effects of company size on economic expectations and stimuli. While only 35% of companies recorded a rise in revenues in the last year (globally 42%) a full 77% (globally 70%) predicted an increase in revenues in the coming year. More companies had registered a decrease in profits with a 63% of medium companies in particular registering a decreased. When asked about the measures companies believed would be most effective in aiding the recovery, a notable 78% (58% average) of large companies suggested marinating interest rates low for another year, 41% of small businesses also emphasized the importance of government guarantees against default for business lending (average 29%).
The IMF recently revised its growth predictions for the UAE to flat growth as a result of the announcement by Dubai it would seek to delay Dubai World's debts. Although much positive growth can be predicted for Abu Dhabi, Dubai is still recovering from the effects of the burst property bubble.[1]
Mark Dixon, Chief Executive of workspace solutions provider Regus, comments: "Despite the slippage between expectations and real experience of business growth observed in this latest survey, it is important to emphasize that the experience of growth is overall still positive around the globe. So, while the drag of Dubai continues to affect the UAE, the positive spur provided by Abu Dhabi justifies positive hopes for revenue increases in the coming year.
"An important caveat remains, however; commentators everywhere agree that businesses must take some important lessons away from the downturn. In particular the restructuring of workforces and workplaces should become a continuing process as the flexible working practices which helped weather the recession have yielded a number of positives for employers and employees alike. Anecdotal evidence gathered by Regus from its operations globally indicated that the shift from traditional commercial property leasing to solutions that accommodate more flexible working systems is certainly underway and likely to play a large part in the coming recovery."