Shifting paradigms in corporate planning
What the latest Survey on Corporate Plans for 2010 reaveals:
The pre-crisis stability provided by growing markets and the use of trend-following strategies has vanished. The crisis changed the status quo; revenues decreased by 50% month on month in some industries and entire financial markets disappeared over night.
The prior relative ease of forecasting was replaced with a sense of prepare for the unexpected.
This situation put the limelight on:
• counterparty risk management
• liquidity and cash management
• risk management and hedging strategies
As a consequence corporates have been more adjusted to plan for any eventualities, focus on cash generation and not expect availability of credits at all times.
The rigid strategy of following the trend is being replaced by a more agile and flexible preparedness to adjust with changing conditions. Service levels and relationships with your banks can suddenly change, management information is crucial, economic statistics is not reliable and the trend is not necessarily your friend.
The actions treasuries take as a response:
• deleveraging
• develop bank relations and new strategies
• new hedging strategies
• improve technical integration
• improve reporting capabilities
• be agile and do not take anything for granted
• take advantage of the opportunities arising e.g. opportunistic financing
The actions corporate management takes as a response:
• improved market and sales focus
• flexible cost structures
• flexible capital expenditure schemes where projects can be postponed or accelerated depending on conditions
• take advantage of the opportunities arising e.g. acquisitions of corporates and markets
Treasury and corporate management now monitor macroeconomic developments more closely; this includes generic parameters (growth rates, inflation etc) and company specific (key currency crosses, commodity prices etc). and all the while cash generation metrics receive increased attention.
This report was sponsored by NFS Group.
Please contact johanna.lenner@nfs-group.com if you want to receive the complete survey report.
