Financial directors in Croatia are less and less optimistic and financial insecurity is their main challenge, according to a survey which Deloitte, the international audit and financial consulting agency, conducted in December.
The survey polled 33 financial directors of Croatia's companies with the highest sales revenues and the results were presented on Tuesday.
Twenty-one per cent of those polled felt the financial future was less optimistic than in the previous three months, said Alen Ambrinac, a senior manager at Deloitte.
As many as 88 per cent felt the time was not right to take risks in Croatia, while 79 per cent felt that financing costs would grow over the next year. Despite the deteriorating conditions, 61 per cent predicted that they would remain able to service their liabilities.
The top priority of most financial directors was reducing costs and increasing revenues, while new investments were at the bottom of the list of priorities for as many as 70 per cent of those polled. Although they did not plan to invest, as many as 34 per cent planned to increase revenues on new markets, which Ambrinac said was a wish not rooted in reality.
Financial directors expect the new government to take decisive steps to maintain the country's credit rating and the stability of the national currency, to control inflation and provide for fiscal security. They also expect support for exports and the adoption of European Union regulations before Croatia's accession to the EU in 2013.
As for the restructuring of Croatian companies, one-third of those polled said restructuring measures would be significant over the next 12 months, while only 12 per cent predicted that there would be no restructuring.
The outlook of acquisitions and mergers in Croatia this year remains the same as in the preceding period, according to 64 per cent of the financial directors polled. Only 30 per cent felt the number of mergers and acquisitions would go up somewhat.
