ATLANTA and CHERRY HILL, N.J., March 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate
financial professionals are bullish about the economy and their own
companies for 2018, according to a survey released today by
Strategic Treasurer and TD Bank, America's Most Convenient
Bank®. Bank professionals, who were also polled in the
survey, are even more optimistic but indicate less appetite for
acquisitions than corporations.
Survey respondents in the United
States indicated that the East Coast offers the largest
opportunities, trailed by the Central and Western regions. Among
the overall reported growth expectations:
- 67 percent of corporations expect the gross domestic product
(GDP) of their headquarters (HQ) country to expand during the next
year, and 73 percent anticipate an increase in their company's
sales/revenue during the same time period.
- 77 percent of financial institutions believe the GDP of their
HQ country will grow, while 92 percent project that their
institution's revenue will increase over the next 12 months.
Tax reform, which went from being a possibility to a reality in
late 2017, contributes to this positive outlook. Forty-two percent
of businesses believe tax reform presents a significant economic
benefit for their company, and 28 percent of corporations with cash
abroad plan to repatriate income back into the U.S. An even larger
number of banks (58 percent) stated that corporate tax reform will
positively impact business, and 37 percent said it will directly
benefit company financial performance. Along with cash
repatriation, companies report plans to use their newly-freed
capital to make investments in the U.S.
When considering overall spending plans, corporations anticipate
allocating excess cash (from all sources) for:
- Capital expenditures (43 percent), including IT upgrades and
plant and equipment
- Debt repayment (33 percent)
- Future investments (28 percent)
"The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act implementation could cause businesses
to have extra capital to deploy, but it is even more encouraging
that organizations expect to have cash on hand through the normal
course of business in the coming year," said Tom Gregory, Manager of Treasury Management
Sales, TD Bank. "Together, these factors mean that companies could
invest more funds, hire employees and generally spend on both their
businesses and communities."
"To be clear, the highly optimistic economic sentiment
represents both an opportunity and risk for companies," said
Craig Jeffery, Managing Partner of
Strategic Treasurer. "The opportunity these strong tail winds
provide for growth must be calibrated carefully with the risk of
inadequate positioning for the inevitable down-cycles."
Even with this rosy view, businesses and banks did report
several operational concerns. The no. 1 concern for both companies
and financial institutions is increasing cyber fraud, followed by
the cost of compliance, gridlock in Washington and healthcare reform.
The 2017-2018 Treasury Perspectives Survey was sponsored by TD
Bank and conducted by Strategic Treasurer. A copy of the survey
data, an infographic and registration for a webinar about the full
results are available at
https://strategictreasurer.com/surveys/2017-treasury-perspectives.
There were 336 respondents, including corporate treasurers,
treasury professionals and corporate bankers from around the globe
(primarily from North America and
Europe).
About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient
Bank®
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is
one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 9
million customers with a full range of retail, small business and
commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200
convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro
D.C., the Carolinas and Florida.
In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private
banking and wealth management services through TD
Wealth®, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial
services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in
Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more,
visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank
Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services
company in North America. The
Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New
York and Toronto stock
exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit
www.td.com.
About Strategic Treasurer
Strategic Treasurer provides
consulting services for treasury management, security, technology,
and compliance. Since 2004, corporate clients, banks, and fintech
providers throughout the world have relied on their advisory
services which are backed by a deep awareness of current practices,
plans, and perceptions through their annual surveys and decades of
treasury experience. The mission of Strategic Treasurer is to
elevate and enhance the practice of treasury by advising individual
clients and informing the industry at large. Headquartered in
Atlanta with consultants based out
of Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Washington DC, Strategic Treasurer guides
treasury and finance professionals through real-world,
mission-critical issues that organizations face today. To learn
more, visit strategictreasurer.com.
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SOURCE TD Bank