Despite the triple whammy of the Canterbury earthquake, the South Canterbury Finance failure and the week-long snow-laden storm across the South, businesses are now more optimistic on their outlooks and expectations.
Business advisers Polson Higgs and McCulloch and Partners had conducted a business survey in August, just before the events.
Now they had done another one, Polson Higgs partner in Dunedin, Michael Turner, said yesterday.
"The aim of the follow-up survey was to examine whether the events which rocked the South Island had affected business confidence and growth expectations," he said.
Three hundred and nine businesses were approached before and after the events.
More than 50% of them were from Otago and Canterbury.
Seventy-two responded to the first survey and 59 to the second.
The surveys are usually done every six months.
The second survey showed business sentiment had changed in some areas.
Expectations of competition were slightly down and those of increased profitability were up, Mr Turner said.
"The follow-up survey really highlighted the positive response by businesses to the recent challenges, perhaps an indication of the resilience of South Island business leaders to adapt in a changing environment."
The rebuilding required in Christchurch would not only boost the construction sector, but would have a flow-on effect in several other sectors during the reconstruction period, he said.
He said business owners would "bear the true loss" of the three events, because of the lack of compensation.
Insurance might help many Canterbury businesses, but some would not be fully insured, and there was also the emotional loss to be considered, he said.
Comparing statistics in the survey results, one of the biggest contrasts was in expectations of the cost of finance.
Before the events 84.9% of respondents thought these costs would increase.
After the events 74.5% thought they would, Mr Turner said.
That result was surprising, but was unlikely to have been caused by the events, Mr Turner said.
Rather, it was probably caused by the Reserve Bank keeping the driving interest rate at 3%.
Mr Turner said IT infrastructure continued to be a primary focus for businesses.
In the August survey, more than 50% of the respondents had increased their investment in IT infrastructure.
This expectation has since increased to 58%.
In light of the events, for some businesses investment in infrastructure and IT, where once optional, would now be vital, Mr Turner said.
