KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian business confidence has hit a three-year high for the third-quarter (Q3) 2018, according to Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) Malaysia’s Business Optimism Index (BOI) study.
Overall BOI increased from +12.58 percentage points in Q1 2018 to +13.17 percentage points in Q2 2018. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, BOI jumped significantly from +3.40 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +13.17 percentage points in Q3 2018.
In a statement, D&B said the six business indicators under the quarterly BOI study include volume of sales, net profits, selling price, inventory level, employees and new orders.
According to D&B Malaysia, two of six indicators have climbed upwards on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.
New orders rose from +14.0 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +19.5 percentage points in Q3 2018, while inventory levels jumped from +3.50 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +18.0 percentage points in Q3 2018.
Both volume of sales and net profits eased slightly from +19.0 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +18.0 percentage points in Q3 2018 and from +16.0 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +15.5 percentage points in Q3 2018.
Selling price fell visibly from +9.50 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +1.0 percentage point in Q3 2018.
Employment levels decreased from +13.5 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +7.0 percentage points in Q3 2018.
On a YoY basis, five of six indicators have risen upwards for Q3 2018.
The report shown the volume of sales rose visibly from +3.88 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +18.0 percentage points in Q3 2018.
New orders jumped from +8.74 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +19.5 percentage points in Q3 2018, while inventory levels climbed from +4.85 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +18.0 percentage points in Q3 2018.
Employment levels increased from +3.88 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +7.0 percentage points in Q3 2018.
Net profits rebounded from the contractionary zone from -3.88 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +15.5 percentage points in Q3 2018.
Selling prices moderated downwards from +2.91 percentage points in Q3 2017 to +1.0 percentage point in Q3 2018.
The survey also revealed for the Q3 2018, the manufacturing sector has emerged as the most upbeat sector while the construction and transportation sectors are least optimistic.