More than half of the nation’s middle-market companies plan to expand their businesses in the next six months with the addition of employees, equipment, or adding new facilities. That’s according to the new KeyBank Middle Market Business Sentiment Survey released on June 27. Predictions for 2013 indicated middle-market companies might set records for mergers and […]
More than half of the nation’s middle-market companies plan to expand their businesses in the next six months with the addition of employees, equipment, or adding new facilities.
That’s according to the new KeyBank Middle Market Business Sentiment Survey released on June 27.
Predictions for 2013 indicated middle-market companies might set records for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), but the same survey found nearly half the respondents “have not been merger-minded” so far this year, according to Key.
The survey found 49 percent of middle-market business leaders polled had no interest in making an acquisition, and only 24 percent completed an acquisition. An additional 27 percent indicated they considered but did not complete an acquisition.
It appears the middle market wants to “hedge its bets” given ongoing uncertainty about issues such as the U.S. debt crisis and companies’ final tab for compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Cindy Crotty, head of KeyBank’s commercial-banking segment, said in a news release.
“Until they have more clear information about these big issues, middle-market companies just are not willing to take the risk of investing in and integrating acquisitions,” Crotty said.
Middle-market leaders remain risk-averse despite their growing confidence in the economic outlook nationally, locally, and for their businesses, KeyBank said. More than half characterized the U.S. economic outlook to be “good to excellent” for the remainder of 2013 and early 2014.
Companies that passed on M&A opportunities so far “still might take the plunge,” Crotty said.
“There are a lot of factors that make this the right time to buy, including taking advantage of interest rates that are still low, at least for now,” she said.
Middle-market companies will expand with new jobs in the next six months, the survey found. Nearly two thirds of respondents (61 percent) plan to add employees.
Expansion by adding new facilities or locations and making significant equipment purchases are “secondary,” according to KeyBank.
The middle-market companies considering expansion will have cash reserves “on hand” for financing the work, according to Key.
Half of the middle-market leaders polled will increase cash reserves over the next six months; of those, 39 percent want “deep reserves on hand” as they plan for company investment or expansion, the bank said.
Access to credit increases confidence among middle-market leaders in their ability to finance growth. A combined 70 percent of those polled indicated they are either extremely confident or very confident in their ability to obtain credit, the survey found.
The suryey also found more than half of those polled are more concerned now than last year at this time about the cost to provide or continue providing health care to employees.
A “significant” percentage of respondents, some 62 percent, are very or extremely concerned about the cost to provide adequate health care to their employees, according to Key.
About 49 percent indicated they are very or extremely concerned about the cost of continuing to offer health care, the survey found.
KeyBank released the survey results just days before the administration of President Barack Obama announced on July 2 that the employer mandate in the federal health-care reform law (PPACA) is delayed by one year and won’t take effect until 2015.
That mandate required companies with 50 or more full-time workers begin providing coverage, or face penalties.
KeyBank collaborated with Los Angeles–based Lieberman Research Worldwide on the survey to understand what business sentiments are affecting each organization’s strategies and tactics, and to determine which regulatory and global-economic issues are affecting them, the bank said.
The research involved 400 financial decision-makers in middle-market businesses that generate between $20 million and $4 billion in annual revenue. Respondents answered online surveys in mid-April, according to Key.
Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) has more than 1,000 branches in 14 states.
KeyBank is the number two bank in the Syracuse–metro area deposit market with 27 branches, more than $1.8 billion in deposits, and a market share of 16.8 percent, according to the latest (June 2012) statistics from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The bank has two offices, more than $58 million in deposits, and a market share of 1.6 percent in the Utica–Rome area.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com