KUALA LUMPUR: Business optimism of Malaysian firms remains expansionary despite the expected strong downward moderation in the third quarter of this year, according to Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Malaysia's Business Optimism Index (BOI) study.
All six indicators in the quarterly 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 the third quarter, following a slight rebound in the perceding quarter, D&B Malaysia said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today.
"Business confidence in Malaysia is still expansionary despite the downward shift in Q3 2015," it said."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 added.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the Business Optimism Index fell from +13.40 percentage points in second quarter of 2015 to +2.62 percentage points in the third quarter.
Compared with a year ago, the index has also declined from +13.14 percentage points in the third quarter of 2014 to +2.62 percentage points in the third quarter this year.
This is the 10th D&B study being released in Malaysia. - Bernama
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