Baruch and FEI noted that U.S. CFOs expect an average 22% increase in their net income and a 16% rise in capital spending, while their European counterparts were expecting 12% rises in net, and 15% in Capex.

The survey, done by email between April 5 and April 17, showed that CFOs hadn't yet experienced wide impact from world events such as the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear-leak disasters and the political turmoil and the Mideast. But the inflation and energy concerns came through clearly.

The survey included 300 CFOs from the U.S., both from public and private companies in a broad range of industries and with a geographic spread. There were 96 Italian and 67 French questionnaires.

In the health care arena, CFOs in this country expected a 10% increase in costs over the next year, while European CFOs pegged the expected rise at 3%.

In the rating of issues by U.S. finance chiefs on a one-to-five scale, with five the highest concern level, 81% listed inflation in the top three (69% for the Europeans.) In terms of whether the concern level had increased since the 2010 Q4, 57% of American CFOs said yes (44% for the Europeans, with 48% saying the concern level was the same.)