MALAYSIA’S business confidence in the first quarter of 2019 softened, with the confidence indicator easing  -2.2% after increasing 7.1% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The Statistics Department said industry, construction, and wholesale and retail trade sectors expected their business situation to decline in the first quarter, with confidence indicators of -3.6%, -18.9% and -8.2%, respectively.

However, the services sector anticipated their business situation to improve at a moderate rate with a smaller confidence indicator of +5.9% compared with +18.8% recorded in the last quarter.

Gross revenue was also expected to increase with a net balance of +11.8%, said the Statistics Department in its “2019 First Quarter Business Tendency Statistics” released today.

“A total of 30.4% of the respondents anticipate their gross revenue to increase while 51.0% (felt it will remain) unchanged and 18.6% foresee a decrease in gross revenue,” it said.

In terms employee numbers, the hiring trend remained positive in the first quarter of 2019 with a net balance recording +3.5%, said the department. 

A total of 8.5% of the establishments intend to increase their workforce while 5% of the establishments expect to reduce the number of employees in the first quarter of 2019, it added.

Meanwhile, business performance from January to June 2019, is expected to turn less optimistic, with the overall net balance registering +0.6% compared with  +12.3% recorded in the previous survey.

The department said respondents in the industry and services sectors anticipated positive business conditions for the period under review but lower at +0.5% and +7.5%, respectively.

“The construction and wholesale & retail trade sectors expect the business situation to deteriorate with a net balance of -24.5% and -6.4%, respectively,” it added. – Bernama, February 28, 2019.