Manufacturing firms' CFOs: growth slowing.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: FORECASTS

Findings from a survey of CFOs at manufacturing companies dovetail with the suggestions that the U.S. economy is still solid, but may be cooling.

More than half (55 percent) of manufacturing CFOs surveyed believe the national economy will grow this year, down from 58 percent last year and fully 77 percent the year before, according to an annual survey of U.S. manufacturing company CFOs commissioned by Bank of America Business Capital. What's more, only 26 percent of CFOs expect the U.S. manufacturing sector to expand this year, while 35 percent expect it will contract.

Conducted by Granite Research Consulting late last year, the research surveys CFOs from 600 mid-size and large manufacturers in the U.S., with revenues ranging from $25 million to $2 billion.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents plan to fuel their revenue growth through increased capital expenditures, while 64 percent of those who sell to foreign markets expect their sales to increase, especially in Asia and Europe. However, only 20 percent expect to participate in a merger or acquisition in 2007, down sharply from 30 percent last year.

Eight out of ten respondents cited materials...