The first all-island business monitor report from BT and InterTradeIreland reveals that most Irish companies have not reported much evidence of the credit crunch so far, but expect that it will begin to bite in 2009.
78% of the 4,000 companies surveyed for the study agreed that the crunch would impact on the economy over the coming 12 months. But the majority of these felt that the impact would be moderate.
The survey also found that two thirds of companies involved in cross-border trade expect volumes to increase in the coming months.
While the state of the island of Ireland's infrastructure was an area of concern to businesses, 53% said planned investment would provide transport infrastructure over the next three years and 72% believed this would help North-South links.
Other key findings included the number of firms expecting profits to rise in the coming quarter fell from 41% to 31%, while the share of construction firms expecting a decline in profits over the next quarter trebled over the 12 months to April.
86% of firms surveyed expected to increase or maintain employment levels over the next three months, while 25% of businesses said they had trouble filling vacancies within their company.
'In tough economic times, trading on an all-island business offers companies North and South a golden opportunity to grow their business by expanding into new markets which are right on our doorstep,' commented InterTradeIreland's strategy and policy director Aidan Gough.
