Modest business year (3)
I believe the answer is:
coy
'modest' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'business year' is the wordplay.
'business' becomes 'co' (short for company).
'year' becomes 'y'.
'co'+'y'='COY'
(Other definitions for coy that I've seen before include "reluctant to divulge information" , "Group of soldiers" , "Military team in brief" , "Pretending to be shy or bashful" , "Pretending modesty" .)