Businesses anticipate a challenging quarter

The latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey reveals that more than two-thirds of respondents feel the fluctuating dollar has had a negative impact on their business, and 59 percent of businesses expect a decline in profits in the next three months.

The survey also showed that one in five respondents expected to have fewer employees by March than they did the same time last year.
 
Christine Christian, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet, also noted that payment terms have almost doubled from 30 days to almost 60 days.
 
“Businesses are now paying four weeks beyond the official terms of their suppliers,” she said. “That means that there’s an underlying cash flow issue within the economy and businesses fail because they run out of cash.”
 
The survey had 1,200 respondents.