[ad_1]
Business activities improved marginally in September with the headline index moving from 50.2 to 51.1, the latest monthly Stanbic IBTC Bank’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data have said.
Readings above 50 signal an improvement in business conditions, while those below show deterioration. The report, which was compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, said strong cost pressures meant that firms operating in the Nigerian private sector remained under pressure last month even though new order growth quickened, helping to support a renewed increase in business activity and rate of expansion, which was modest.
Input prices increased at one of the sharpest rates on record, largely due to exchange rate weakness and higher fuel costs, the report said. It added: “New orders increased for the sixth month running in September as some firms signalled an improvement in demand. While the rate of expansion quickened from that in August, it remained only modest as market conditions remained weak and customers were deterred by price hikes.”
It revealed that output returned to growth in the month reviewed.
“Three of the four monitored sectors saw output expand, the exception being manufacturing. Sharp rises in prices were a key factor limiting demand in the private sector at the end of the third quarter. Overall input costs rose at a pace that was only marginally weaker than August’s survey record,” it noted.
Purchase costs were up substantially, mainly due to exchange rate weakness and higher fuel costs, according to the report. But efforts by companies to help staff deal with higher transportation costs, the survey said, meant that wages were raised markedly.
The rate of staff cost inflation was only marginally softer than the series record posted in August, it added. It added that sharp increases in purchase costs fed through to a further steep rate of selling price inflation, despite the latest rise being the weakest since May.
It also stated: “Employment increased for the fifth successive month in September, albeit only slightly. Firms also expanded their purchasing activity, but the rate of growth eased to the weakest in six months. This was also the case with stocks of purchases. Suppliers’ delivery times shortened amid competition among vendors, prompt payments and quiet traffic conditions.”
Confidence in the year-ahead outlook for output was unchanged in September, meaning it was among the weakest recorded in recent times.
[ad_2]
Source link