Tricor Group Releases COVID-19 Business Sentiment & Resilience Barometer Report Highlighting the Acute Financial and Operational Challenges Facing Companies in APAC

Businesses in Asia Pacific are struggling to maintain operations amidst the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Nearly 50% report that they will be forced to restructure business operations to stay afloat if the situation worsens, according to the Tricor Group COVID-19 Business Sentiment and Resilience Barometer Report released today.

The Business Barometer Report, which evaluated how the outbreak is impacting Asia Pacific business sentiment, business continuity planning, operational decision-making, business restructuring and expansion strategies.

This report contains key primary research findings from an in-depth survey conducted of business leaders and finance executives at 1,050 organizations in APAC, sampling a cross-section of start-ups, SMEs, MNCs and listed companies in the private sector across 12 major industries.

Key findings from the report include:

• 1 out of 2 executives agree that their business has been impacted by the current public health situation and are concerned about the future of their business.
• 43% of executives report that if the situation gets worse, they will need to consider restructuring operations.
• Less than 1 in 3 executives are confident they have well-equipped crisis management teams capable of handling the situation.
• 43% of the executives agree that COVID-19 has heightened their awareness of business continuity risks and has increased their need for third-party, consulting and outsourcing support.
• 46% of the executives are actively looking for ways to streamline business functions through cost reductions and operational efficiency.
• Nearly half of the executives cite cost reduction as a key strategic focus to help navigate business uncertainty resulting from the acute reliance on Mainland China.

The report also offers key insights, industry analysis, recommendations and best practices that organizations can leverage to scale up readiness and response in the face of business uncertainty in 2020 and beyond. To achieve business resiliency, top priorities for businesses include: 1) De-risking and diversifying supply chains, 2) Rebalancing market interdependencies, 3) Restructuring business operations to reduce costs and 4) Mitigating operational risk exposures through outsourcing and offshoring.

Lennard Yong, Tricor Group CEO, said: "As business leaders, we cannot always control the situation, but we can control how we react to it, particularly when it comes to dealing with disruptions to operations. Since January, Tricor has received an increasing number of inquiries from organizations looking to circumvent the challenges posed by COVID-19 and cut the cost of daily operations, especially in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR. Our teams, led by Tricor Mainland China CEO Hailiang Zhang and Tricor Hong Kong Joe Wan, are dedicated to helping clients face the evolving business environment with confidence ? and thrive in the face of uncertainty."

Gary Tok, Tricor Group CCO said: "Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, organizations in Asia Pacific are focusing on becoming more resilient by restructuring, diversifying and automating operations. Tricor ace, our shared services centre, streamlines back-end operations for our clients, including payroll, invoice management and HR administration. This allows our clients to quickly set up, expand and seamlessly scale new markets at unprecedented rates Furthermore, Tricor recently signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the Malaysia operations of Axcelasia Inc. (a SGX listed company), which strategically equips us with a full suite governance, risk & compliance (GRC) solutions to help clients future-proof their operations."

Sunshine Farzan, Tricor Group, Group Head of Marketing & Communications said: "Businesses face a challenging start to the new decade and are now anticipating a few more difficult months ahead. Tricor's COVID-19 Barometer Research conducted in mid-February 2020 shows that sentiments of concern COVID-19 are most acute in the technology, hospitality and travel, professional services, consumer goods and manufacturing sector ? and amongst small and mid-sized organizations. By highlighting these challenges and prescribing possible solutions, this report can help executives own business continuity strategies and achieve resilience."

About Tricor Group

Tricor Group (Tricor) is the leading business expansion specialist in Asia, with global knowledge and local expertise in business, corporate, investor, human resources & payroll, and corporate trust & debt services. Tricor provides the building blocks for, and catalyzes every stage of clients' business growth, from incorporation to IPO. Tricor has had a rapid expansion through organic growth and development as well as partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. The Group today has over 50,000 clients globally (including 20,000 clients in mainland China), a staff strength of over 2,600 and a network of offices in 47 cities across 21 countries / territories. Our client portfolio includes over 1,500 companies listed in Hong Kong SAR and China, ~500 companies listed in Singapore and Malaysia, and more than 40% of the Fortune Global 500 companies, as well as a significant share of multinationals and private enterprises operating across international markets. In March 2017, the Permira Funds became the controlling shareholder of the Tricor Group, alongside management.

Visit: www.tricorglobal.com