Financial executives bullish on business outlook.

A Financial Executives Institute (FEI) poll found financial executives optimistic about the outlook for inflation, profits and revenues. Inflation fears apparently were minimal, with half of the executives polled expecting a yearend inflation rate of 3% to 3.4% and another 29% expecting a rate below 3%.

The financial executives also were bullish on upcoming revenues and profits. Eighty percent foresaw increased revenues in the third and fourth quarters of 1994, and 78% expected profits to follow suit.

Naturally, their employment projections were optimistic as well. Forty percent of respondents said their companies expected to hire additional workers in the second half of this year, and only 20% forecast staff reductions.

"I can understand why there's some nervousness about inflation, though I think a certain minimal level is healthy," said Buel Adams, CPA, vice-president and treasurer of CPI Industries and chairman of the FEI survey committee. "The survey also revealed a lot of large American companies were not out of the recession yet and smaller companies were generating the most jobs."

Companies with $100 million or less in revenues showed the most optimism, with 46% expecting to increase their payrolls and only 12.5% foreseeing cuts. Thirty percent of companies with revenues of $1 billion or more expected higher employment while 33% projected cuts.

The poll also served as a report card for Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Sixty percent of respondents gave him a grade of "good" and 18% rated him as "excellent," while 2% said he was doing a "poor" job.