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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


INTRODUCTION

This publication presents final results, in respect of the 2000-01 financial year, from an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey on the production and distribution of information technology and telecommunications (IT&T) goods and services by businesses in Australia. The publication predominantly presents statistics for IT&T specialist businesses. IT&T specialist businesses are defined as businesses which derive 50% or more of their total income from IT&T goods and services. The exception to this rule is employing businesses who fall into certain classes of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). Businesses who fall into these classes are regarded as IT&T specialists regardless of their income. Further information on these classes are available in the glossary. Table 1.1 contains summary information from the survey.

Note that financial data are presented in current price terms.

Businesses

At the end of June 2001, there were 22,475 IT&T specialist businesses in the industries surveyed. Of these IT&T specialist businesses, 17,386 (77%) were in the computer consultancy services industry, 2,320 (10%) in the computer wholesaling industry and 814 (4%) in the telecommunication services industry. The remaining 1,955 (9%) were spread across the other industries surveyed.

Employment

There were 238,521 persons working in IT&T specialist businesses at the end of June 2001.

Profitability

During 2000-01, IT&T specialist businesses generated a total operating profit before tax of $4,925m, a 35% decrease ($2,595m) from the level recorded for 1998-99. The main contributors to this decline in profitability were the following IT&T industry groupings: wholesale trade (decrease of $1,349m), computer services (decrease of $641m) and telecommunication services (decrease of $612m).

Overall, the operating profit margin in 2000-01 was 6.5%, which was a decrease on the operating profit margin of 12.2% recorded in 1998-99. Operating profit margins declined for each of the IT&T industry groupings, with computer services showing the greatest fall (from 8.1% in 1998-99 to 1.4% in 2000-01), followed by wholesale trade (from 4.5% to -1.4%) and telecommunication services (from 21.2% to 16.2%).


PROFITABILITY MEASURES, IT&T Specialists

IT&T industry sector	Operating profit before tax		Operating profit margin
	1998-99	2000-01	1998-99	2000-01
	$m	$m	%	%
Manufacturing	r148.1	154.8	4.4	3.8
Wholesale trade	r961.0	-388.2	4.5	-1.4
Telecommunication services	r5,565.5	4,953.9	21.2	16.2
Computer services	r845.4	**204.3	8.1	1.4
Total	r7,520.0	4,924.9	12.2	6.5

Business type	IT&T income	Other income	Total income
	$m	$m	$m
IT&T specialists	73,767.1	3,751.1	77,518.2
Other businesses	744.5	11,529.6	12,274.0
All businesses	74,511.6	15,280.7	89,792.3

	Businesses at end June	Employment at end June	IT&T income	Total income	Wages and salaries	Industry value added
	no.	no.	$m	$m	$m	$m
IT&T SPECIALISTS
Manufacturing
Computer and business machines	282	3,398	1,311.3	1,342.7	137.6	227.9
Telecommunication, broadcasting and transceiving equipment	188	8,373	1,914.0	2,340.5	555.8	815.3
Electronic equipment n.e.c.	-	-	-	-	-	-
Electric cable and wire	*28	928	430.2	469.7	55.6	139.9
Total	497	12,699	3,655.4	4,152.9	749.0	1,183.0
Wholesale trade
Computers	2,320	38,656	20,271.2	20,618.3	2,148.2	3,057.6
Business machines and electrical and electronic equipment n.e.c.	483	12,327	6,072.5	6,704.4	902.2	1,056.3
Total	2,803	50,983	26,343.7	27,322.7	3,050.4	4,113.9
Telecommunication services	814	77,275	29,827.1	31,504.8	4,651.3	15,478.4
Computer services
Data processing	485	3,718	*443.2	*477.3	154.3	*263.1
Information storage and retrieval	33	1,174	141.7	150.0	49.0	73.6
Computer maintenance	457	4,451	944.4	983.2	252.6	337.9
Computer consultancy	17,386	88,222	12,411.6	12,927.3	5,154.6	6,761.5
Total	18,361	97,565	13,940.9	14,537.8	5,610.5	7,436.0
Total	22,475	238,521	73,767.1	77,518.2	14,061.1	28,211.3
OTHER BUSINESSES
Manufacturing
Computer and business machines	16	808	np	212.4	45.4	262.1
Telecommunication, broadcasting and transceiving equipment	-	-	-	-	-	-
Electronic equipment n.e.c.	301	8,027	31.1	1,948.4	361.1	558.1
Electric cable and wire	33	2,461	np	939.2	134.9	241.8
Total	351	11,296	109.5	3,099.9	541.4	1,062.0
Wholesale trade
Computers	-	-	-	-	-	-
Business machines and electrical and electronic equipment n.e.c.	1,914	26,744	634.9	9,174.2	1,088.7	1,660.4
Total	1,914	26,744	634.9	9,174.2	1,088.7	1,660.4
Telecommunication services	-	-	-	-	-	-
Computer services	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	2,264	38,040	744.5	12,274.0	1,630.1	2,722.3
ALL BUSINESSES
Manufacturing
Computer and business machines	298	4,206	np	1,555.1	183.0	489.9
Telecommunication, broadcasting and transceiving equipment	188	8,373	1,914.0	2,340.5	555.8	815.3
Electronic equipment n.e.c.	301	8,027	31.1	1,948.4	361.1	558.1
Electric cable and wire	61	3,389	np	1,408.9	190.5	381.7
Total	848	23,995	3,765.0	7,252.8	1,290.3	2,245.0
Wholesale trade
Computers	2,320	38,656	20,271.2	20,618.3	2,148.2	3,057.6
Business machines and electrical and electronic equipment n.e.c.	2,396	39,070	6,707.4	15,878.6	1,990.9	2,716.6
Total	4,716	77,726	26,978.6	36,496.9	4,139.1	5,774.2
Telecommunication services	814	77,275	29,827.1	31,504.8	4,651.3	15,478.4
Computer services
Data processing	485	3,718	*443.2	*477.3	154.3	*263.1
Information storage and retrieval	33	1,174	141.7	150.0	49.0	73.6
Computer maintenance	457	4,451	944.4	983.2	252.6	337.9
Computer consultancy	17,386	88,222	12,411.6	12,927.3	5,154.6	6,761.5
Total	18,361	97,565	13,940.9	14,537.8	5,610.5	7,436.0
Total	24,739	276,561	74,511.6	89,792.3	15,691.2	30,933.7