Highlights from the April 2013 Survey

YPO CONFIDENCE INDEX

60.4

CONFIDENCE HOLDS STEADY IN FIRST QUARTER

• RecentdevelopmentsintheEuropeanUnionerasedthegainsinconfidenceofthepreviousquarter,landingtheregionbackatitsOctober2012levelof51.4.

• EightEUcountrieswallowinpessimisticterritory(below50),

includingFrance,Cyprus,Hungary,GreeceandItaly.Forthefirsttimeinfouryears,thecollectiveconfidenceoftheEUcoreeconomiesturnedlowerthanthatoftheperiphery.

• ConfidenceintheUnitedStatesdidnotrallywiththestockmarket

inthefirstquarter:itslevelincheddown0.1pointto60.9,nearthelevelithashoveredaroundsincethemiddleoflastyear,suggestingexpectationsthattheU.S.economywillcontinuetoexpandatamoderatepace.

• Asia’sconfidencealsoheldsteady,withadipinChina’sconfidence

offsetbyabumpinJapan’s,thelatterrallyingtoitshighestlevelinthehistoryoftheGlobalPulsesurvey.

• Confidenceelsewherewaslargelyunchanged.Africaretainedits

positionastheworld’smostoptimisticregion,slippingathirdofapointto67.3.TheonlyregionwhereconfidencebrightenedwasMiddleEastandNorthAfrica,whichedgedup1.9points

to60.3. • YPOandWPOmembers:getexclusivein-depthanalysisat www.myypo.org/globalpulse.FriendsofYPO:see www.ypo.org/globalpulse.

Sincefalling4.1pointsninemonthsago,theYPOGlobalPulseConfidenceIndexhasremainedlargelyunchanged,slippingto60.4inthefirstquarterof2013—0.9pointoffitsJanuaryleveland0.7pointhigherthanwhereitwaslastJuly.ThebiggestmoversweretheEuropeanUnion,down4pointsonthebackofthehungparliamentinItalyandtheCyprusbailoutturmoil,andLatinAmerica,off3.3pointsonweakenedoptimisminMexicoandVenezuela.

YPO CONFIDENCE INDEX bY AREA arrows indicate directional change versus previous quarter

60.4 i 67.3 i 64.2 i 58.8 i 58.7i 51.4 i 60.5 i 60.2 i 60.3 h 60.9 i

Global Africa Asia Australasia Canada European Europe Latin MENA United States Union Non-EU America

YPOCONFIDENCEINDEXTRENDLINESbYCATEGORYn=1,691

Theconfidencenumbersindicatethelevelofconfidenceofthesurveyparticipantsthatthecategorywillincreaseoverthenext12months,onascaleof0to100with50beingneutral.

Global Sales Global Employment Global Fixed Investment

Jul 12 Oct 12 Jan 13 Apr 13 Jul 12 Oct 12 Jan 13 Apr 13 Jul 12 Oct 12 Jan 13 Apr 13

Jul 12 Oct 12 Jan 13 Apr 13

Results by Geographic Area, April 2013

Most recent quarter results, compared to last year

KEY

more than 20% higher

more than 10% higher

about the same

more than 10% lower

more than 20% lower

Expected results one year from now, compared to today

Global Africa Asia Australasia Canada European Europe Latin MENA U.S. Union Non-EU America

Sales

Sales

FixedInvestment

Employee Count

Employee Count

FixedInvestment

expressed as a percentage of total category responses