5676.0 - Business Indicators, Australia, Mar 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/05/2005   
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MARCH KEY FIGURES

Dec Qtr 04 to Mar Qtr 05
Mar Qtr 04 to Mar Qtr 05
%
%

Sales of goods & services (Chain vol. meas.)
Manufacturing
Trend
-0.3
-1.9
Seasonally Adjusted
0.7
-1.9
Wholesale trade
Trend
0.0
2.1
Seasonally Adjusted
-0.4
1.3
Inventories (Chain vol. meas.)
Trend
0.5
2.7
Seasonally Adjusted
2.0
3.5
Company profits before income tax
Trend
-1.5
13.5
Seasonally Adjusted
-9.9
11.2
Company gross operating profits
Trend
-0.2
7.3
Seasonally Adjusted
-1.7
7.5
Wages and salaries
Seasonally Adjusted
2.2
6.0

Inventories (volume terms), Trend estimates - Quarterly change
Graph: Inventories (volume terms)

Company gross operating profits, Trend estimates - Quarterly change
Graph: Company gross operating profits



MARCH KEY POINTS


CHAIN VOLUME MEASURES

  • The trend estimate for inventories increased by 0.5% this quarter, which is similar to the growth in the previous two quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate rose by 2.0% compared with a 0.4% decrease last quarter.
  • The trend estimate for Manufacturing sales of goods and services (down 0.3%) fell for the fourth successive quarter. It rose 0.7% in seasonally adjusted terms. The trend estimate of Wholesale trade's sales of goods and services has been flat for each of the last two quarters, with a seasonally adjusted decrease of 0.4% this quarter.


CURRENT PRICE ESTIMATES
  • The trend estimate for company gross operating profits fell marginally (by 0.2%) this quarter, the first decrease since the June quarter 2001. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 1.7% this quarter.
  • Growth in the trend estimate for wages and salaries has been consistent (at about 1.5% per quarter) over the past four quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate grew by 2.2% this quarter.


NOTES

COMPARISON BETWEEN COMPANY GROSS OPERATING PROFITS AND GROSS OPERATING SURPLUS

Unlike in recent quarters, price changes have led to slight falls in the value of inventories held by Australian businesses this quarter. An inventories valuation adjustment (IVA) is applied in the calculation of the gross operating surplus of private non-financial corporations (GOS) estimate in the Australian National Accounts. As prices for inventories have fallen in the March quarter but had risen in the December quarter, growth in GOS will be higher after the application of the IVA. The IVA for the March quarter is -$187m, which is $1,524m lower than December quarter IVA of $1,337m. No adjustment is made to the company gross operating profits (CGOP) estimate in this publication and, as a result, users should exercise caution when comparing the two series. It should also be noted that there are other differences between the two series. In particular, changes are made to GOS when annual benchmarks are applied and slightly different seasonal factors apply to the two series. Given this, while CGOP movements are an appropriate indicator for GOS, it is not the case that the two series will have equivalent seasonally adjusted movements from quarter to quarter.


INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS

Australian businesses are progressively adopting new international financial reporting standards throughout 2005 and 2006. As a general principle, ABS surveys seek to obtain information which is readily available from businesses accounts. In the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey for the March quarter 2005, some responding businesses have moved to the new standards, while the majority have not.

Analysis of reported data indicates that adoption of the new standards by these businesses has not had a significant impact on the estimates contained in this issue. The ABS will continue this analysis in coming quarters and will notify users if and when such changes become significant. For more information, please refer to the information paper: Impact of the Implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards on ABS statistics, Australia (cat. no. 1279.0).


REVISIONS IN THIS ISSUE

As is usually the case after the initial release of a quarter's estimates, revisions have been made to the previous quarter's estimates as a result of responses received or revised after the publication of the previous issue and the use of concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology. The net effect on December quarter 2004 estimates of these revisions has been to revise the seasonally adjusted chain volume estimates for both Manufacturing and Wholesale trade sales of goods and services by -0.1%. The seasonally adjusted chain volume measure for total inventories has been revised by 0.3%. Seasonally adjusted current price estimates of wages and salaries have been revised by 0.2 % and company gross operating profits by 0.3%.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or David Coxall on Sydney (02) 9268 4241.


ANALYSIS BY INDUSTRY


FEATURED SERIES

The following graphs and commentary refer to seasonally adjusted and trend estimates of: sales of goods and services ('Sales') and inventories ('Inv.') in volume terms; and wages and salaries ('Wages') and company gross operating profits ('CGOP') in current price terms.


TOTAL ALL INDUSTRIES

The trend estimate for total company gross operating profits fell slightly this quarter, the first fall in the series since June quarter 2001. This was driven by falls in a number of industries. The seasonally adjusted estimate has decreased by 2% this quarter following increases in each of the six previous quarters. The trend and seasonally adjusted estimates for wages and salaries increased by 1% and 2%, respectively, this quarter.

Graph: Total All Industries - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate for total inventories increased by 1% this quarter. Wholesale trade and Retail trade were the main contributors to this increase, slightly offset by decreases in Manufacturing and Mining. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 2% this quarter


Graph: Total All Industries - Inventories



MINING

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased by 4% after stronger increases throughout 2004. The seasonally adjusted estimate has grown by 4% in each of the latest two quarters after growing more strongly in the previous two quarters. The trend estimate for wages and salaries has increased by 5% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate has increased by 9% this quarter continuing the strong growth of the previous three quarters.

Graph: Mining - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate for sales of goods and services has increased by 2% in each of the past two quarters after being relatively flat in the June and September quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 8% this quarter. The trend estimate for inventories has fallen by between 2% and 3% in each of the past four quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate was relatively flat this quarter.

Graph: Mining - Inventories and Sales



MANUFACTURING

Both the trend and seasonally adjusted estimates for company gross operating profits have decreased in the latest two quarters following increases in the previous five quarters. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased by 1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 2% this quarter after being flat in the previous quarter.

Graph: Manufacturing - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate for sales of goods and services has declined slightly over the past four quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate has risen by 1% this quarter. The trend estimate for inventories fell by 1% in each of the past four quarters, while the seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 1% this quarter.

Graph: Manufacturing - Inventories and Sales



CONSTRUCTION

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits has decreased in each of the latest two quarters following growth in the previous five quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate has decreased by 9% this quarter following growth in the previous three quarters. The trend estimate for wages and salaries has been relatively flat over the latest five quarters following steady growth throughout 2002 and 2003. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 1% this quarter following a decrease of 1% in the previous quarter.

Graph: Construction - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate for sales of goods and services has been declining for the past seven quarters, with quarterly decreases of 1% or less over that period. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 1% this quarter.

Graph: Construction - Sales



WHOLESALE TRADE

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits has decreased by 1% in each of the latest two quarters following increases in the previous five quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 9% following an increase of 6% in the previous quarter. Both the trend and seasonally adjusted estimates for wages and salaries have increased steadily over the past twelve quarters.

Graph: Wholesale Trade - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate for sales of goods and services has been relatively flat for the past three quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased slightly this quarter. The trend estimate for inventories increased by 2% this quarter, continuing the build up over the past twelve quarters. This quarter's seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 3%.

Graph: Wholesale Trade - Inventories and Sales



RETAIL TRADE

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits has decreased in each of the latest two quarters following increases in the previous eight quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate has fallen in each of the latest two quarters following an increase in the September quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries has increased by 2% in each of the past seven quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 3% this quarter.

Graph: Retail Trade - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate for sales of goods and services has increased by between 1% and 2% in each of the past nine quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 3% this quarter after a 1% fall in the December quarter. The trend estimate of inventories has increased over the last five quarters, with a 1% seasonally adjusted increase this quarter.

Graph: Retail Trade - Inventories and Sales



TRANSPORT AND STORAGE

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits has fallen in each of the latest three quarters after five quarters of growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 1% this quarter after rising 12% the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries has increased by between 2% and 3% in each of the past seven quarters following an extended period of weaker growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 4% this quarter.

Graph: Transport and Storage - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate of sales of goods and services increased by 1% this quarter following slightly weaker growth in the previous two quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate rose by 2% this quarter.

Graph: Transport and Storage - Sales



PROPERTY AND BUSINESS SERVICES

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits has decreased in the last two quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 5% this quarter after a similar fall last quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries has been increasing steadily, with increases between 1% and 2% in each of the past nine quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 2% this quarter.

Graph: Property and Business Services - CGOP and Wages


The trend estimate of sales of goods and services has fallen slightly in the past two quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 1% in each of the past two quarters

Graph: Property and Business Services - Sales