LARGE South African companies performed well compared to the
rest of the world in activities like cost control, restructuring,
procurement, stock control, sales pushes and tax planning,
according to a survey released on Wednesday.
PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC) conducted the survey in ten
countries, targeting 592 companies in the $50-million and higher
turnover bracket.
Of these, 52 were South African companies.
The industries surveyed were fast moving consumer goods,
manufacturing, IT and telecoms, financial services, the car
industry and aviation.
The survey found that South African companies were more
pessimistic and that a larger number claimed to be experiencing a
downturn in business – 56% versus 52% globally.
It was however also found that the downturn was not perceived as
very serious, globally, and in South Africa. South African business
expected a slower upturn than overseas companies, but that might be
in local business’ favour.
”South African businesses expect any upturn to come more slowly
but this could represent good news for South Africa if the global
economy recovers more rapidly than its business leaders
anticipate,” PWC said.
Compared to companies in the United States, the United Kingdom
and Europe, South African companies were a lot more active when it
comes to cost control, restructuring, procurement, stock control,
sales pushes and tax planning.
The local companies were also more likely to cut staff and close
plants than global companies.
South African companies were ahead of the international average
in restructuring and investing for the future.
They also performed better when tested on turning spend analysis
into targets for cost reduction.
South African companies fell behind in the sphere of online
procurement, but performed well in procurement in general.
It was also expected that they would catch up with international
trends of online procurement in the near future. – Sapa