Finance and property sectors most bullish on business outlook in Q2

They expect both output and employment levels to rise.

The finance, insurance and real estate sectors are amongst the sectors who expect a better business situation in Q2 as they anticipate higher QoQ output and employment levels for the year ahead, according to the Census and Statistics Department Quarterly Business Tendency Survey.

Overall, a larger percentage of businesses in Hong Kong are still more optimistic (17%) about their business conditions than the proportion of businesses expecting a turn for the worse (9%).

The manufacturing, ICT, transport, storage and courier services sector are also more bullish than their peers in the construction sector wherein a larger proportion of respondents expect declining business activities ahead.

Retailers are similarly bullish as they expect selling prices and service charges to go up in Q2.

The quarterly business survey gathers views on short-term business performance from the senior management of about 560 prominent establishments in various sectors in Hong Kong covering ten major sectors namely manufacturing; construction; import/export trade and wholesale; retail; accommodation and food services; transportation, storage and courier services; information and communications; financing and insurance; real estate; and professional and business services sectors.