Business Confidence In Malaysia Still Expansionary: D&B Study

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Business optimism of Malaysian firms remains expansionary despite the expected strong downward moderation for the third quarter of this year (Q3 2015), according to Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Malaysia's Business Optimism Index (BOI) study. All six indicators in the quarterly BOI study -- volume of sales, net profits, selling price, inventory level, employees and new orders -- have moderated downwards but still within the expansionary zone. Optimism levels for all six business indicators have moderated strongly for Q3 2015 on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis, following a slight rebound in Q2 2015, D&B Malaysia said in statement here Tuesday. "Business confidence in Malaysia is still expansionary despite the downward shift in Q3 2015. "Our study suggests that the moderation in business optimism is partly due to a sizeable proportion of firms anticipating no change in status for the indicators. "The business community has just entered its first post-Goods and Services Tax quarter and the compound effects of weak commodity prices, underperforming exports and ringgit volatility may continue to weigh on overall business sentiments in Malaysia," it said. On a q-o-q basis, the BOI fell from +13.40 percentage points in Q2 2015 to +2.62 percentage points in Q3 2015. Compared to a year ago, the BOI has also declined from +13.14 percentage points in Q3 2014 to +2.62 percentage points in Q3 2015. This is the 10th D&B BOI study being released in Malaysia. --BERNAMA