Deloitte CFO Survey

The key theme in our last CFO survey report in Winter 2023 was “resilience in the face of uncertainty”, where we saw Irish CFOs show increased levels of optimism despite their growing sense of uncertainty. This optimism continues to shine through, with Irish CFOs having broadly maintained their level of optimism with a large majority of CFOs expecting interest rate cuts balanced by market uncertainty remaining relatively high. This is a trend that hadn’t been demonstrated by their counterparts in Europe last Winter. However, in our recent survey we are seeing optimism rebounding across the rest of Europe even as CFOs remain cautious. Even with this rebound, Irish CFOs are nearly twice as optimistic as their European counterparts.

When looking at growth outlook: the majority of CFOs expect to see revenue growth, and in Ireland the majority of CFOs expect to see operating margin growth as well. This correlates with the expected reduction in inflation bringing costs under control through 2024. Whilst a lower proportion of Irish CFOs expect to grow their headcount number in comparison to six months ago, Irish CFOs are more likely to be recruiting than their European counterparts (39% versus 34%).

Click here to read the full European CFO Survey - Spring/Summer 2024