LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Global executives see a smaller
hit to their investment plans for Europe than they did earlier
this year and are somewhat more upbeat about the continent's
future appeal, a questionnaire by professional services group EY
found.
The survey, conducted in October before a series of COVID-19
vaccine trial breakthroughs, showed that 42% of executives now
expect a decrease in their 2020 investment plans and 31% plan to
delay them to 2021.
That compared with 66% who expected decreases and 23% who
saw delays when asked the same question back in April. This time
around, a small number - 10% - even saw an increase to their
2020 investments, something no one did in April.
While that still means a big overall hit to foreign direct
investment after 2019's record year, EY noted that 21% of those
surveyed believed Europe would be more attractive for investment
post-Covid compared to just 8% in April.
"It is promising that investors believe that over the next
three years, Europe will become a much more attractive
destination for investments than before pandemic," EY Area
Managing Partner Julie Teigland said.
The findings were based on interviews with 109 global
executives across 14 industries in October.
Upbeat news from vaccine trials are starting to support
economic sentiment. The monthly eurozone Purchase Managers Index
(PMI) for November saw a rise in its "future output" component
in November to its highest level since February.
Among the other takeaways from the EY survey, 63% expected
faster roll-out of digital customer access to surveys in the
next three years (versus 55% in April) but only 37% now saw a
reversal of globalisation (versus 56%).
(Reporting by Mark John, editing by Ed Osmond)