“Travel is going gangbusters, but it's going to continue go gangbusters because we still have an enormous amount of demand waiting. Employment remains strong. Everyone's worried about the consumer. I get it. They should worry about the consumer maybe in certain sectors, but not in this sector".
Retail Property
“First of all, we see that the physical stores are very, very important still for our customer” Helena Helmersson, CEO, H&M Group
“Consumers want digital and physical access. They shop across both channels, they want a monobrand and multibrand. They use different shopping occasions to use different channels. Consumers expect us to know who they are, and consumers have said to us they want a consistent and seamless experience” John Donahoe, CEO, Nike Inc.
Food
“There has been a noticeable change in some shoppers’ behaviour from early calendar 2023, to focus more on ‘value’ items” Doug Jones, CEO, Metcash Limited
“I think, first of all, it's important to call out that our base case has been for the consumer to be under pressure in 2023, and we expect that to kind of continue. Although broadly speaking, the consumer has held up better than expected” Brendan Foley, COO, McCormick & Company [world’s largest spice, flavour & seasoning company]
Commodities & Raw Materials
“The price of raw materials is still up high. It’s stabilised but at a higher level. Everything is higher, so it’s harder to make money” Sanjay Dayal, CEO, Pact Group Ltd
Healthcare
“Similar to other retailers, we've been impacted by the rapid softening of the macro environment and a more cautious and value-driven consumer” Rosalind Brewer, CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc [world’s biggest chemist retailer]
Building & Construction
“The pipeline of detached housing projects under construction remains at historically high levels....Activity in the apartment market is improving as more projects have moved to construction stage, while non-residential activity remains strong, supported by a large pipeline of approvals” Julie Coates, CEO, CSR Ltd
HR
“[Post COVID] there was incredible demand on all fronts in many, many industries and you saw the executive search business in a huge, huge upswing, and what we're seeing here is a significant moderation of search, a decline in volume. It's interesting to note that basically where we are today in search was essentially where we were pre-pandemic” Gary Burnison, CEO, Korn Ferry Inc
Labour Market
“Labour and electricity are 2 areas that we're continuing to see some [inflation] headwinds on” Drew O’Malley, CEO, Collins Foods Ltd
“But if I was to report on what I'm hearing most, it's actually surprised me a little, how farmers talking about the scarcity of labour” Barry Irvin, Exec Chair, Bega Cheese Ltd
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Farming
“The past year, I've been in the field together with farmers across the world…There are many commonalities. For example, the complexity of the work they do and the lack of financial reward for producing in a more environmentally friendly way. However, there is no one size fits all type of solution for this” Svein Holsether, CEO, Yara International ASA [major global fertiliser company]
Decarbonisation
“So, the regulatory incentive drive that's been going on around the world in the last 12 months has been really accelerating at a phenomenal pace” Liam Condon, CEO, Johnson Matthey Plc [major multinational specialty chemicals manufacturer]
Discretionary Spending
“Travel is going gangbusters, but it's going to continue go gangbusters because we still have an enormous amount of demand waiting. Employment remains strong. Everyone's worried about the consumer. I get it. They should worry about the consumer maybe in certain sectors, but not in this sector” Edward Bastian, CEO, Delta Air Lines
“So, with respect to 2024, the [order] book position at record levels at strong price” Josh Weinstein, CEO, Carnival Cruise Corp Plc
Computers & Electronics
“We expect this P.C. demand decline to abate over time as customers upgrade an aging installed base of devices allowing them to run the latest operating environments and leverage key security features, and we're encouraged by the improving macroeconomic sentiment and stable supply chain conditions” Richard Hume, CEO, TD Synnex Corp [multinational IT distribution company]
Manufacturing & Equipment
“[We see] particularly in the OT world as a device manufacturer, whether it's medical equipment or industrial equipment, etc, etc, they are starting to modernise their devices that in the operation technology[OT] world to be Internet-enabled, to be smart enabled, to be able to interconnect with various elements on areas of endpoints and to create the potential of AI technology to make decisions on by machine” John Chen, CEO, BlackBerry Ltd
Technology
“It [AI] is moving very quickly. It is super compelling, and customers want it” Alyssa Henry, CEO, Square Payments
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