Duke University/CFO Magazine

Business Outlook Survey

Asia

1st Quarter, 2005

Table of Contents

1. Are you more or less optimistic about the Asian economy compared to last quarter?	1

2. Are you more or less optimistic about the financial prospects for your company compared to last quarter?	2

3. Would a revaluation of the Chinese renminbi help or hurt your firm?	3

4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months for:   [Public Companies - Windsorized - Unweighted - Sorted]	4
4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months?
   [Public Companies - Windsorized – Revenue Weighted - Sorted]	5
4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months?
   [Public Companies - Windsorized – Employee Weighted - Sorted]	6

5. What are the top four concerns your corporation faces in 2005? (rank #1, #2, #3, #4)	7
5. What are the top four concerns your corporation faces in 2005? OTHER SPECIFIED	8

6. Negative impact of terrorism.	9
6. Negative impact of terrorism.	10

7. The Federal Funds rate is currently 2.5%. What do you consider to be the "neutral" level of interest rates? (Neutral interest rates strike a balance between inflation and economic growth).	11

8a. Sarbanes-Oxley is now being phased in for non-US firms that are listed in the US. Would the cost of 
      implementing Sarbox make you consider issuing new listings in markets other than the US?	12
8b. In your opinion, what are the top two benefits of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? (rank #1 and #2)	13
8b. In your opinion, what are the top two benefits of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? OTHER SPECIFIED	14
8c. What are the top two drawbacks of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? (rank #1 and #2)	15
8c. What are the top two drawbacks of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? OTHER SPECIFIED	16

Industry	17
Industry (Other specified)	18
Sales Revenue	19
Weighted Sales Revenue (Millions)	20
Number of Employees	21
Weighted Number of Employees	22
Headquarters	23
Ownership	24
Foreign Sales	25

1

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

1. Are you more or less optimistic about the Asian economy compared to last quarter?

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	3=More optimistic	128	69.9 %	± 7.0 %
	2=No change	34	18.6 %	± 6.1 %
	1=Less optimistic	21	11.5 %	± 5.2 %
	Total	183	100.0 %

	Mean = 2.58
	SD = .69

	Missing Cases = 0 
	Response Percent = 100.0 %

2

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

2. Are you more or less optimistic about the financial prospects for your company compared to last quarter?

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	3=More optimistic	116	63.4 %	± 7.3 %
	2=No change	40	21.9 %	± 6.5 %
	1=Less optimistic	27	14.8 %	± 5.7 %
	Total	183	100.0 %

	Mean = 2.49
	SD = .74

	Missing Cases = 0 
	Response Percent = 100.0 %

3

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

3. Would a revaluation of the Chinese renminbi help or hurt your firm?

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	1=Hurt a lot	8	4.4 %	± 3.9 %
	2=Hurt moderately	16	8.7 %	± 4.7 %
	3=Hurt a little	26	14.2 %	± 5.6 %
	4=No effect	86	47.0 %	± 7.6 %
	5=Help a little	23	12.6 %	± 5.4 %
	6=Help moderately	20	10.9 %	± 5.1 %
	7=Help a lot	4	2.2 %	± 3.7 %
	Total	183	100.0 %

	Mean = 3.96
	SD = 1.28

	Missing Cases = 0 
	Response Percent = 100.0 %

4

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months for:   [Public Companies - Windsorized - Unweighted - Sorted]

(N=75)

	Mean & SD	Positive	Zero	Negative	Total
	  	1	0	-1	  	
	0.92	60	3	1	64
Wages/Salaries	0.32	93.8%	4.7%	1.6%	100.0%

	0.87	50	1	3	54
Revenues	0.47	92.6%	1.9%	5.6%	100.0%

	0.79	40	6	2	48
Capital spending	0.50	83.3%	12.5%	4.2%	100.0%

	0.79	41	2	4	47
Earnings	0.58	87.2%	4.3%	8.5%	100.0%

	0.76	33	8	1	42
Productivity (output per hour worked)	0.48	78.6%	19.0%	2.4%	100.0%

	0.76	38	10	1	49
Technology spending	0.48	77.6%	20.4%	2.0%	100.0%

	0.74	27	7	1	35
Health care costs	0.50	77.1%	20.0%	2.9%	100.0%

	0.62	32	12	3	47
Advertising/Marketing Spending	0.60	68.1%	25.5%	6.4%	100.0%

	0.58	34	8	6	48
Number of domestic employees	0.70	70.8%	16.7%	12.5%	100.0%

	0.47	17	10	3	30
Dividends	0.67	56.7%	33.3%	10.0%	100.0%

	0.45	32	7	10	49
Prices of your products	0.81	65.3%	14.3%	20.4%	100.0%

	0.40	11	13	1	25
M&A activity	0.57	44.0%	52.0%	4.0%	100.0%

Number of foreign/off-shore outsourced	0.34	15	17	3	35
employees	0.63	42.9%	48.6%	8.6%	100.0%

5

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months?  [Public Companies - Windsorized - Revenue Weighted - Sorted] 

	Mean	SD	95% CI	Median	Minimum	Maximum

Earnings	19.18	14.84	18.66 - 19.71	20	-50	100

Revenues	13.59	10.64	13.22 - 13.97	10	-15	91.16

Capital spending	11.02	11.46	10.56 - 11.48	10	-35.80	69.58

Technology spending	9.78	14.95	9.23 - 10.32	5	-5	68.37

Dividends	4.43	20.15	3.45 - 5.41	5	-27.20	38.97

Advertising/Marketing Spending	3.43	5.37	3.22 - 3.64	0	-10	40.78

Prices of your products	2.79	6.40	2.56 - 3.03	4	-12.30	19.40

M&A activity	-0.26	10.44	-0.82 - 0.31	0	-30	52.22

6

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

4. Relative to the previous 12 months, what will be your company's PERCENTAGE CHANGE during the next 12 months?  [Public Companies - Windsorized - Employee Weighted - Sorted]

	Mean	SD	95% CI	Median	Minimum	Maximum

Wages/Salaries	6.63	8.70	6.35 - 6.91	4	-19.70	35.14

Health care costs	4.17	4.11	4.00 - 4.34	3	-17.10	25

Number of foreign/off-shore outsourced employees	3.88	5.04	3.68 - 4.09	3	-1	35.71

Number of domestic employees	3.58	8.42	3.25 - 3.91	2	-50	79.82

Productivity (output per hour worked)	2.90	3.77	2.76 - 3.04	2	-5	25

7

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

5. What are the top four concerns your corporation faces in 2005? (rank #1, #2, #3, #4) 

(N=183)

	Mean & SD	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total	
	1.92	28	21	11	6	66
High fuel prices	0.97	42.4%	31.8%	16.7%	9.1%	100.0%

High non-fuel commodity	2.09	11	13	6	4	34
prices	0.98	32.4%	38.2%	17.6%	11.8%	100.0%

	2.15	21	9	15	7	52
Availability/cost of capital	1.10	40.4%	17.3%	28.8%	13.5%	100.0%

	2.31	37	31	31	22	121
Competition	1.09	30.6%	25.6%	25.6%	18.2%	100.0%

	2.35	28	13	19	18	78
World economic stability	1.19	35.9%	16.7%	24.4%	23.1%	100.0%

	2.38	5	3	0	5	13
Other	1.33	38.5%	23.1%	0.0%	38.5%	100.0%

	2.41	14	24	15	13	66
Reduced pricing power	1.03	21.2%	36.4%	22.7%	19.7%	100.0%

	2.48	10	17	9	12	48
U.S. dollar weakness	1.08	20.8%	35.4%	18.8%	25.0%	100.0%

	2.59	8	13	15	10	46
Increased interest rates	1.01	17.4%	28.3%	32.6%	21.7%	100.0%

	2.63	11	17	11	18	57
Political risk	1.12	19.3%	29.8%	19.3%	31.6%	100.0%

	2.67	2	17	8	9	36
Distribution problems	0.91	5.6%	47.2%	22.2%	25.0%	100.0%

	2.69	8	11	13	13	45
Increased regulation	1.07	17.8%	24.4%	28.9%	28.9%	100.0%

	2.71	13	12	21	19	65
Salaries and wages	1.09	20.0%	18.5%	32.3%	29.2%	100.0%

	2.76	7	14	13	16	50
Inflation	1.05	14.0%	28.0%	26.0%	32.0%	100.0%

	2.88	1	2	2	3	8
U.S. budget deficit	1.05	12.5%	25.0%	25.0%	37.5%	100.0%

	3.11	0	3	2	4	9
U.S. trade deficit	0.87	0.0%	33.3%	22.2%	44.4%	100.0%

	3.36	0	2	3	6	11
Health care costs	0.77	0.0%	18.2%	27.3%	54.5%	100.0%

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

5. What are the top four concerns your corporation faces in 2005? OTHER SPECIFIED

additional competent human resources	
Availability of Raw Material	
cOMPETITION	
Decreasing demand for product	
lost business	
MNC Competition from Foreign	
Piracy	
Production Issues	
Productivity	
Regional economic growth	
Statutory levies	
Technology capability	
Technology changes40	
unstable social factor eg Terrorist	
Weak Purchasing Power	

9

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

6. Negative impact of terrorism.

	Mean	SD	95% CI	Median	Minimum	Maximum	Total

On a scale of 0 to 100, how do you rank the
negative impact that the threat of terrorism
is having on your business? (0 means no
impact, 100 means maximum negative
impact from threat of terrorism.)	28.92	28.08	24.86 - 32.99	20	0	100	183

What number on this scale would indicate
that the threat of terrorism is affecting your
bottom line? (If your answer in 6a is greater
than this number, it means that the threat of
terrorism is affecting your bottom line.)	26.07	27.51	22.03 - 30.11	15	0	100	178

Negative impact minus cut-off negative
impact.	3.16	16.10	0.79 - 5.53	0	-70	75	178

10

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

6. Negative impact of terrorism.

	Cut-off negative impact	Number	Percent	90% CI
	Threat of terrorism is significantly affecting your
	   bottom line.	64	36.0 %	± 6.2 %
	Negative impact and cut-off negative impact are equal	89	50.0 %	± 6.4 %
	Threat of terrorism is not significantly affecting your
	   bottom line.	25	14.0 %	± 4.6 %
	Total	178	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 5 
	Response Percent = 97.3 %

11

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

7. The Federal Funds rate is currently 2.5%. What do you consider to be the "neutral" level of interest rates? (Neutral interest rates strike a balance between inflation and economic growth).

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	Less than 1.0%	3	1.7 %	± 4.3 %
	1.0%	6	3.5 %	± 3.7 %
	1.25%	4	2.3 %	± 3.7 %
	1.5%	10	5.8 %	± 4.1 %
	1.75%	7	4.0 %	± 3.8 %
	2.0%	27	15.6 %	± 5.7 %
	2.25%	10	5.8 %	± 4.1 %
	2.5%	20	11.6 %	± 5.1 %
	2.75%	8	4.6 %	± 3.9 %
	3.0%	42	24.3 %	± 6.6 %
	3.25%	6	3.5 %	± 3.7 %
	3.5%	13	7.5 %	± 4.4 %
	3.75%	3	1.7 %	± 4.3 %
	4.0%	11	6.4 %	± 4.2 %
	Greater than 4.0%	3	1.7 %	± 4.3 %
	Total	173	100.0 %

	Mean = 2.59
	SD = .83

	Missing Cases = 10 
	Response Percent = 94.5 %

12

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

8a. Sarbanes-Oxley is now being phased in for non-US firms that are listed in the US. Would the cost of implementing Sarbox make you consider issuing new listings in markets other than the US?

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	1=Yes	45	26.5 %	± 6.7 %
	2=Maybe	64	37.6 %	± 7.3 %
	3=No	61	35.9 %	± 7.3 %
	Total	170	100.0 %

	Mean = 2.09
	SD = .78

	Missing Cases = 13 
	Response Percent = 92.9 %

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

8b. In your opinion, what are the top two benefits of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? (rank #1 and #2)

(N=183)

	Mean & SD	1st	2nd	Total	
	1.24	106	33	139
Better corporate governance	0.43	76.3%	23.7%	100.0%

	1.35	11	6	17
Lower cost of capital	0.48	64.7%	35.3%	100.0%

	1.69	28	61	89
Improved company reputation	0.46	31.5%	68.5%	100.0%

Set an example for other companies in Asia to	1.70	6	14	20
follow	0.46	30.0%	70.0%	100.0%

	1.71	2	5	7
Other	0.45	28.6%	71.4%	100.0%

	1.72	20	52	72
Improved ability to attract investors	0.45	27.8%	72.2%	100.0%

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

8b. In your opinion, what are the top two benefits of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? OTHER SPECIFIED

better control	
Deterrent to internal malpractices	
Improve documentation of processes	
no benifits	
none	
Reassess operational efficiencies	
reduced non-value adding processes	

15

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

8c. What are the top two drawbacks of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? (rank #1 and #2)

(N=183)

	Mean & SD	1st	2nd	Total	
	1.15	103	18	121
Cost	0.36	85.1%	14.9%	100.0%

	1.55	14	17	31
Accountability of senior executives	0.50	45.2%	54.8%	100.0%

Changes to my company’s accounting	1.66	12	23	35
processes	0.47	34.3%	65.7%	100.0%

	1.71	10	25	35
Less flexible accounting	0.45	28.6%	71.4%	100.0%

	1.72	33	83	116
Increased complexity	0.45	28.4%	71.6%	100.0%

	1.83	1	5	6
Other	0.37	16.7%	83.3%	100.0%

16

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

8c. What are the top two drawbacks of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley? OTHER SPECIFIED

a ton of paperworks and documentation	
Burden on limited human resources	
Increased bureacracy	
less efficiency in cases	
slow down of decision process	
time taken out of present staff	

17

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Industry

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	Manufacturing	58	33.0 %	± 7.2 %
	Other	23	13.1 %	± 5.4 %
	Retail/Wholesale	22	12.5 %	± 5.3 %
	Service/Consulting	20	11.4 %	± 5.1 %
	Banking/Finance/Insurance	14	8.0 %	± 4.5 %
	Transportation/Energy	10	5.7 %	± 4.1 %
	Healthcare/Pharmaceutical	9	5.1 %	± 4.0 %
	Communications/Media	8	4.5 %	± 3.9 %
	Mining/Construction	6	3.4 %	± 3.7 %
	Tech [Software/Biotech]	6	3.4 %	± 3.7 %
	Total	176	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 7 
	Response Percent = 96.2 %

18

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Industry (Other specified)

BPO	
Consumer Goods (beverages)	
Education	
Electric/Electronic	
Engineering Services	
hospitality	
hotel	
hotel	
IT	
MICE	
mixed	
power generation	
PROPERTY	
public	
Restaurants/Franchisor	
securuties	
System Integrator	
Telecom	
Telecommunication	
Trading & Distribution	
trading	

19

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Sales Revenue

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	Less than $25 million	54	29.7 %	± 7.1 %
	$25-$99 million	47	25.8 %	± 6.8 %
	$100-$499 million	36	19.8 %	± 6.3 %
	$500-$999 million	12	6.6 %	± 4.3 %
	$1-$4.9 billion	17	9.3 %	± 4.8 %
	$5-$9.9 billion	5	2.7 %	± 3.6 %
	More than $10 billion	11	6.0 %	± 4.2 %
	Total	182	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 1 
	Response Percent = 99.5 %

20

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Weighted Sales Revenue (Millions)

	Minimum = 25

	Maximum = 7500

	Mean = 658.27

	Median = 62

	Variance (Unbiased) = 2178570.74

	Standard Deviation (Unbiased) = 1476.00

	Standard Error Of The Mean  = 112.87

	95 Percent Confidence Interval Around The Mean = 437.04 - 879.50

	99 Percent Confidence Interval Around The Mean = 367.62 - 948.92

	Skewness = 3.29

	Kolmogorov-Smirnov Statistic For Normality = 5.22

Quartiles

	 1 = 25
	 2 = 62
	 3 = 300

Valid Cases = 171 
Missing Cases = 12 
Response Percent = 93.4%

21

Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Number of Employees

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	Fewer than 100	37	22.7 %	± 6.3 %
	100-499	52	31.9 %	± 7.0 %
	500-999	17	10.4 %	± 4.8 %
	1,000-2,499	15	9.2 %	± 4.6 %
	2,500-4,999	17	10.4 %	± 4.8 %
	5,000-9,999	9	5.5 %	± 4.0 %
	Over 10,000	16	9.8 %	± 4.7 %
	Total	163	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 20 
	Response Percent = 89.1 %

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Weighted Number of Employees

	Minimum = 100

	Maximum = 12000

	Mean = 2340.80

	Median = 300

	Variance (Unbiased) = 13683525.90

	Standard Deviation (Unbiased) = 3699.13

	Standard Error Of The Mean  = 289.74

	95 Percent Confidence Interval Around The Mean = 1772.91 - 2908.68

	99 Percent Confidence Interval Around The Mean = 1594.72 - 3086.87

	Skewness = 1.81

	Kolmogorov-Smirnov Statistic For Normality = 4.07

Quartiles

	 1 = 300
	 2 = 300
	 3 = 3750

Valid Cases = 163 
Missing Cases = 20 
Response Percent = 89.1%

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Headquarters

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	Asia	124	68.5 %	± 7.1 %
	North America	34	18.8 %	± 6.1 %
	Europe	20	11.0 %	± 5.1 %
	Central/South America	3	1.7 %	± 4.3 %
	Total	181	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 2 
	Response Percent = 98.9 %

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Ownership

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	Private	95	55.9 %	± 7.6 %
	Public	69	40.6 %	± 7.4 %
	Government	4	2.4 %	± 3.7 %
	Nonprofit	2	1.2 %
	Total	170	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 13 
	Response Percent = 92.9 %

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Duke University/CFO Magazine Business Outlook Survey - Asia - 1st Quarter, 2005

Foreign Sales

	 	Number	Percent	95% CI
	0%	45	25.0 %	± 6.7 %
	1-24%	47	26.1 %	± 6.8 %
	25-50%	25	13.9 %	± 5.5 %
	Over 50%	63	35.0 %	± 7.3 %
	Total	180	100.0 %

	Missing Cases = 3 
	Response Percent = 98.4 %