5676.0 - Business Indicators, Australia, Dec 2005

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2006

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Main Features
About this Release

DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Sep Qtr 05 to Dec Qtr 05	Dec Qtr 04 to Dec Qtr 05
			%	%

Sales of goods & services (Chain vol. meas.)
	Manufacturing
		Trend	-0.1	0.8
		Seasonally Adjusted	-0.9	1.0
	Wholesale trade
		Trend	0.6	3.0
		Seasonally Adjusted	1.0	2.9
Inventories (Chain vol. meas.)
	Trend		0.4	3.1
	Seasonally Adjusted		0.2	3.6
Company profits before income tax
	Trend		4.6	19.0
	Seasonally Adjusted		3.6	15.6
Company gross operating profits
	Trend		3.5	16.4
	Seasonally Adjusted		0.8	13.6
Wages and salaries
	Seasonally Adjusted		1.9	8.5

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

Company gross operating profits (current prices), Trend estimates - Quarterly change
Graph: Company gross operating profits (current prices) Trend estimates Quarterly change

Graph: Company gross operating profits (current prices) Trend estimates Quarterly change

DECEMBER KEY POINTS

CHAIN VOLUME MEASURES

The trend estimate for inventories increased by 0.4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.2% following a 0.6% rise in the previous quarter.
The trend estimate for Manufacturing sales of goods and services decreased 0.1% this quarter after an increase of 0.2% in the previous quarter. Seasonally adjusted Manufacturing sales decreased 0.9% after an increase of 0.6% in the September quarter 2005. Wholesale trade's sales of goods and services in trend terms increased 0.6% this quarter, following a similar increase last quarter. In seasonally adjusted terms Wholesale sales increased 1% after a fall of 0.6% in the September quarter 2005.

CURRENT PRICE ESTIMATES

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 3.5% this quarter. Seasonally adjusted the estimate increased 0.8% after a 2.9% rise in the previous quarter.
Wages and salaries trend estimates increased 1.8% this quarter. In seasonally adjusted terms wages and salaries increased 1.9% this quarter after an rise of 2.4% in the previous quarter.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2006	5 June 2006
June 2006	4 September 2006

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

There are no changes to this issue.

COMPARISON BETWEEN COMPANY GROSS OPERATING PROFITS AND GROSS OPERATING SURPLUS

Price changes have had an impact on 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 slightly in the December quarter, growth in GOS will be higher after the application of the IVA. The IVA for the December quarter is $1198m which is $54m lower than September quarter IVA of $1252m. 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.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Fiona Cotsell 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 of company gross operating profits increased 3% this quarter, the growth rate falling in comparison to the previous two quarters. Seasonally adjusted the estimate increased 1%, the growth rate weaker than the previous two quarters. Wages and salaries trend estimates increased 2% this quarter and increased 2% in seasonally adjusted terms. The estimate continues the steady growth of recent quarters.

Graph: Total All Industries - CGOP and Wages

The trend estimate for total inventories is relatively flat this quarter, which is a smaller increase compared to the previous three quarters. Seasonally adjusted the estimate was relatively flat.

Graph: Total All Industries - Inventories

MINING

The trend estimate for company gross operating profit increased 8% this quarter, the rate of growth remains at high levels. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 4% this quarter, after a rise of 8% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries decreased 1% this quarter after the growth rate had been slowing for the past three quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2% after a fall of 4% in the previous quarter.

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services decreased 2% this quarter, the second consecutive fall. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1%, following two quarters of decreases. The trend estimate and seasonally adjusted estimate for inventories both decreased 4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate was the third consecutive quarter of decreases.

MANUFACTURING

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 1% this quarter, the third consecutive quarter of small increases. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1% this quarter after a strong 4% increase in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate was relatively flat this quarter, following a 1% increase in the previous quarter.

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services was relatively flat this quarter, the fifth consecutive quarter of relatively flat growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell by 1% this quarter, the first decrease after three quarters of weak growth. The trend estimate for inventories was relatively flat this quarter similar to the previous three quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1% this quarter.

Graph: Manufacturing - Inventories and Sales

CONSTRUCTION

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 5% this quarter a similar level of growth to the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 3% this quarter, following a strong increase of 10% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 5% this quarter, which was similar to the growth in the previous two quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 6% this quarter.

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 2% this quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of positive growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2%, following stronger growth of 5% in the previous quarter.

WHOLESALE TRADE

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 2% this quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of similar growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1% this quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1% this quarter, after an increase of 3% in the previous quarter.

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 1% this quarter, a similar increase to the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate also increased 1% after a small decline in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for inventories increased 1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2% after relatively flat growth in the previous quarter.

Graph: Wholesale Trade - Inventories and Sales

RETAIL TRADE

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 3% this quarter after a revised increase of 4% in the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 10% this quarter, after a strong increase of 11% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 3% this quarter, the second consecutive quarter of similar growth.

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services was relatively flat this quarter following eight consecutive quarters of subdued growth of 1%. The seasonally adjusted estimate has been relatively flat for the past two quarters. The trend estimate for inventories increased 2% this quarter, the seventh consecutive quarter of similar growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1%, following two quarters of slightly stronger growth.

Graph: Retail Trade - Inventories and Sales

TRANSPORT AND STORAGE

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits decreased 4% this quarter, the second consecutive quarter of decreases. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 5% this quarter, after a strong fall last quarter of 9%. The trend estimate for wages and salaries was relatively flat this quarter, continuing the decline in growth rates over the previous two quarters.

Graph: Transport and Storage - CGOP and Wages

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services decreased 1% this quarter after relatively flat growth over the previous two quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1%, after a similar fall in the previous quarter.

PROPERTY AND BUSINESS SERVICES

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 3% this quarter, following a similar increase in the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1%, the growth rate falling compared to the previous two quarters. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 2% this quarter, the eleventh consecutive quarter of similar growth. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2%, similar to the previous two quarters' growth rates.

Graph: Property and Business Services - CGOP and Wages

The trend estimate for sales of goods and services has increased 1% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2% this quarter, after a small fall in the previous quarter.

Graph: Property and Business Services - Sales