The 2026 PNG 100 CEO Survey: the results

The PNG 100 CEO Survey asked CEOs how their profits performed in 2025 compared to their expectations.

“The big story this year is foreign exchange, which has fallen from first to 12th.”

Businesses performed exceptionally well in 2025, with 55 per cent saying that their profits exceeded expectations and an additional 30 per cent saying they met expectations. Only 15 per cent of CEOs said profits fell short of expectations.

This was an even better result than last year’s survey, when 40 per cent of CEOs said profits beat expectations and 30 per cent said they met expectations.

Profit expectations

The survey asked how profits are likely to perform in 2026, compared to 2025.

Most CEOs expressed optimism heading into 2026, with 72 per cent expecting profits to exceed 2025, and an additional 22 per cent expecting profits to be about the same. Less than six per cent of CEOs expected profits to fall in 2026.

Again, this pointed to an even-greater level of optimism than the previous year, when 65 per cent of CEOs expected profits to rise and 25 per cent expected profits to be stable.

Investment intentions

The survey asked respondents for their capex plans in 2026.

In another bullish signal, 72 per cent of CEOs forecast an increase in investment in 2026, with a majority (52 per cent) forecasting a “substantial” increase. An additional 13 per cent said capex would be around the same in 2026 as it was in 2025, while 15 per cent flagged lower capex in 2026.

In last year’s survey, 67 per cent of CEOs said their businesses were planning greater capex, while 22 per cent said they were planning the same level of capex.

Recruitment intentions

The survey asked respondents to indicate their recruitment intentions for 2026, compared to 2025.

The responses were positive overall, with 57 per cent of CEOs expecting to increase their head count and 37 per cent saying they would maintain current staffing levels. Less than six per cent of CEOs said they would reduce head count.

Last year’s survey was similarly positive for job seekers, when 56 per cent of CEOs expected to increase staff levels and 43 per cent expected to maintain their head count.

Business impediments

Each year, we ask CEOs to rank the key impediments facing their business, from 5 for “mission critical” to 1 for “not relevant.”

The big story this year is foreign exchange, which has fallen from first to 12th in the rankings. Unreliable utilities rose to first this year, after ranking third in the previous two years.

Notably, the average score across the 20 impediments was 2.92, down from 3.11 in the 2025 survey and 3.38 in 2024.

Only six of the impediments worsened: unreliable utilities (up from 4.04 to 4.17), lack of market research/ intelligence (3.04 to 3.17), high employment costs (2.98 to 3.09), competition (2.62 to 2.79), lack of available office/warehouse space (1.70 to 1.91) and lack of available land (1.63 to 1.71).

Many previously major impediments eased substantially, led by forex (down from 4.24 to 2.94), regulatory uncertainty (4.00 to 3.25), logistics (3.37 to 2.96), supply chain constraints (2.98 to 2.57) and work permits and visas (2.76 to 2.30).

The 2026 PNG 100 CEO Survey was conducted by Business Advantage International between November 2025 and January 2026. The survey included senior executives from a representative sample of PNG’s largest companies, across all sectors of the economy. For the full survey report, click here.

This piece was first published in the 2026 edition of the Business Advantage PNG Annual. You can read the full issue here.