City finance chiefs say UK growth prospects looking up

Finance bosses at some of Britain's biggest companies are optimistic over growth prospects for the year ahead, a survey showed today.

Confidence among chief financial officers bounced back in the last quarter of 2010, according to the survey by accountancy firm Deloitte, while fears of a double dip have abated.

Finance chiefs at firms surveyed, which include 35 FTSE 100 and 45 FTSE 250 companies, are taking on new staff and making capital expenditure, the poll said.

Economists expect Britain's economic growth to have slowed in the fourth quarter of last year, and to continue declining in the first half of 2011 before picking up later in the year.

Margaret Ewing, Deloitte partner and vice-chairman, said: "If 2010 was the year of balance sheet rebuilding and cost-cutting, then 2011 looks set to be the year in which corporates start spending again.

"A new emphasis on expansion by the UK's large companies lends support to the idea that the recovery is likely to broaden out during 2011 aided by growth in private sector hiring and capital spending."

As they enter 2011, finance chiefs are increasingly positive on the outlook for revenues and are focused on growth opportunities, the survey found.

The most frequently cited opportunities are investing or undertaking acquisitions at lower prices, growing organically and expanding in emerging markets.

But part of this optimism seems to reflect confidence about demand from overseas, Deloitte said. Only 39% of financial officers expect the UK to make the biggest contribution to the growth in their company' revenues in 2011 and 34% of financial officers see emerging markets, such as Brazil, India and China, as making the biggest contribution to revenue growth.