Jersey Finance Industry Optimistic
Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Jersey Finance has noted the publication of the 2010 Survey of Financial Institutions, which provides statistical insight into performance, priorities and issues within Jersey’s finance industry.

An overall decline in profits for the industry was significant during 2010, down 25% on 2009, and the estimate of total net profits is the lowest recorded by the survey since its introduction in 1995.

Jersey Finance pointed out though, that, encouragingly, employment was only down by 2% in comparison, and expenditure on goods and services by the finance industry was up by approximately 3% to GBP690m, equating to GBP400m being spent on-island by finance firms alone, which is an increase of GBP20m since 2009.

Significantly, 89% of finance firms estimated that the confidence of their off-island parent companies in Jersey as a jurisdiction had been maintained or increased.

Another area of note in the survey included analysis of geographical focus for business development over the next three years, with Asia, the Middle East, the UK and Eastern Europe all scoring highly in terms of importance.

Going forward for 2011, over 63% of firms anticipated an increase in profitability, and approximately 59% of firms anticipated an increase in employment, with both figures being more optimistic compared to those made for 2010.

Geoff Cook, CEO of Jersey Finance, commented:

“2010 was still a turbulent time for our industry, due to the volatile nature of the global markets. Banking, which represents the largest sector of the finance industry, has been significantly affected by the continued low levels of interest rates on overall profits. But I believe that we are now coming out of the financial crisis and 2011 will be a positive year.”

“What these results reflect is that Jersey’s finance industry has been able to largely maintain its workforce and also to continue to invest in the local economy despite the pressures from global markets.”

“I am also pleased that this survey has further supported our efforts to develop new regions, an essential part of Jersey Finance’s long-term strategic activity. There are already signs of growth in 2011, with positive figures for funds, banking and company formations reported at the end of Quarter 1 (by the Financial Services Commission) and I am hopeful that with continued focus on promotion and innovation, we will be able to build on this recovery.”

“The work done by the Statistics Unit is an incredibly valuable tool for developing and evaluating strategy. I would like to personally thank them for their efforts, as well as all of the finance firms who completed the survey.”