Deloitte’s autumn edition of the European CFO Survey reveals that companies perceive a high level of uncertainty and are unwilling to increase risk on their balance sheets.
Despite falling interest rates and inflation, the financial prospects of companies have remained largely unchanged since spring. The majority of Finnish companies are investing less than 5% of their budgets in generative AI.
In Finland, 71 CFOs of large companies participated in the European CFO survey in September 2024.
The outlook for companies in the euro area has remained largely unchanged since spring. In the autumn, 30% of CFOs (19% of CFOs in Finland) are less optimistic than before.
Over 75% of Finnish CFOs estimate that the Finnish economy will start to recover during year 2025. Only 13,5% believes that the recovery will not begin until over a year from now.
Half (49%) of the CFOs believe that a decrease in interest rates and the subsequent growth in private consumption will trigger the Finnish economic recovery.
Approximately two-thirds of Finnish CFOs (68%) see that now is not a good time to be taking greater risks onto your balance sheet.
68% of Finnish CFOs (70% in European CFOs) believe it is not a favorable time to take on additional risk. European CFOs are prioritising cost reduction as their top strategy.
We also asked from the Finnish CFOs what are the main benefits that companies hope to achieve from using GenAI and how much are they willing to invest in it.
The European CFO Survey Autumn 2024
Since 2015 Deloitte has conducted the European CFO Survey, giving voice to senior financial executives from across Europe twice a year. The data for the Autumn 2024 edition were collected in September 2024; the survey had garnered responses from 1839 CFOs 26 countries (71 CFOs were based in Finland) and across a wide range of industries.