Caution reigns in corporate Australia

The majority of Australian chief financial officers are planning only moderate investment in their businesses in the coming year.

A global survey of CFOs by American Express found that big Australian companies were "the second most reluctant" in the Asia Pacific region to invest this year.

Sixty-eight per cent of Australian CFOs said their spending and investment would be moderate, 23 per cent said they would "tightly control" spending and investment, while only ten per cent said they had "aggressive" investment plans.

The proportion planning to invest aggressively is down from 31 per cent in last year's survey.

Among countries in the region, Indian CFOs have the most aggressive investment plans and Hong Kong CFOs are the most reluctant to invest.

The most common use for increased investment would be on protecting share in current markets, followed by growth through acquisitions or new business partnerships, business transformation and entry into new markets.

The Amex research echoes the findings of Deloitte's latest CFO survey, published in February, which reported that over half of the CFOs said their companies were risk-averse.

Seventy-three per cent said they were unwilling to take on more risk and a majority said they expected to reduce their gearing in the year ahead.

Three-quarters of the local respondents to the Amex survey said recruitment was not a priority.

Christine Wakefield, vice president of American Express global corporate payments, said in a statement: "Companies are looking for ways to do more with less and stretch every dollar."