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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


INTRODUCTION

This publication presents results, in respect of the 1999-2000 financial year, from an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey of businesses mainly engaged in hiring pre-recorded video cassettes for personal use. These businesses are classified to Class 9511 Video Hire Outlets, of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). The survey did not include businesses which receive only a minor part of their income from the hiring of videos such as service stations, chemists and newsagents.

Size of industry

At the end of June 2000, there were 1,166 businesses operating in the video hire industry. These businesses operated from 1,615 outlets, with 1,228 in capital cities and 387 in country areas.

While the number of active video hire memberships at the end of June 2000 was 5.5 million persons, some persons were members of more than one outlet.

The total income for these businesses during 1999-2000 was $595 million.

The industry value added of the video hire industry in 1999-2000 was $282 million.

Number of rental transactions

During 1999-2000, there were 152 million video rental transactions made by businesses in the video hire industry.

Income

The total income of businesses in the video hire industry was $595 million.

Expenses

Businesses in the video hire industry had total expenses of $559 million.

Profitability

The industry recorded an operating profit before tax of $42 million, which represented an operating profit margin of 7.2% for 1999-2000.

Employment

There were 11,034 persons working for businesses in the video hire industry at the end of June 2000.


1 KEY FIGURES

	unit	value
Businesses at end June	no.	1,166
Locations at end June
Capital city and suburbs	no.	1,228
Other	no.	387
Total	no.	1,615
Active video hire store membership at end June 2000	'000	5,499.4
Video rental transactions for the year ended 30 June 2000	'000	151,897.3
Total employment at end June	no.	11,034
Income
Income from the rental of videos, DVD's and video games	$m	488.0
Income from the sale of videos and related goods	$m	36.3
Other income	$m	70.9
Total	$m	595.2
Expenses
Labour costs	$m	128.9
Video and DVD hire/rental	$m	16.2
Purchase of videos and related goods	$m	99.9
Other expenses	$m	313.8
Total	$m	558.7
Operating profit before tax	$m	42.0
Operating profit margin	%	7.2
Industry value added	$m	281.9

4 Adjustments have been made to include new businesses in the estimates in the periods in which they commenced operations, rather than when they were processed to the business register.

5 Further adjustments have been made for businesses which had been in existence for several years, but, for various reasons, were not previously added to the ABS register.

6 For more information on these adjustments, please refer to the ABS publication Information Paper: Improvements to ABS Economic Statistics, 1997 (Cat. no. 1357.0).

STATISTICAL UNIT

7 The unit for which statistics were reported in the survey was the management unit. The management unit is the highest-level accounting unit within a business, having regard for industry homogeneity, for which accounts are maintained. In nearly all cases it coincides with the legal entity owning the business (i.e. company, partnership, trust, sole operator, etc.). In the case of large diversified businesses, however, there may be more than one management unit, each coinciding with a 'division' or 'line of business'. A division or line of business is recognised where separate and comprehensive accounts are compiled for it.


STATE DATA

8 Data were collected from the Australia-wide operations of each business. Businesses which operated in more than one State or Territory were asked to provide a dissection of the number of locations, total income, employment, and wages and salaries to enable State and Territory statistics to be compiled and comparisons undertaken.


REFERENCE PERIOD

9 Data contained in the tables of this publication relate to all businesses which operated in Australia at any time during the year ended 30 June 2000. Counts of businesses include only those businesses that were operating at 30 June 2000.


BUSINESSES CEASED DURING THE YEAR

10 A small number of businesses ceased business during the 1999-00 reference period. It is normal ABS procedure to include the contributions of these businesses in the survey output.


RELIABILITY OF DATA

11 The estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling error.

12 The estimates in this publication are based on information obtained from a sample of 580 businesses in the surveyed population. Consequently, the estimates in this publication are subject to sampling variability, that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been obtained if all units had been included in the survey. One measure of the likely difference is given by the standard error (SE), which indicates the extent to which an estimate might have varied by chance because only a sample of units was included.

13 There are about 2 chances in 3 that a sample estimate will differ by less than one SE from the figure that would have been obtained if a census had been conducted, and approximately 19 chances in 20 that the difference will be less than two SEs.

14 Sampling variability can be measured by the relative standard error (RSE) which is obtained by expressing the SE as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. The RSE is a useful measure in that it provides an immediate indication of the percentage errors likely to have occurred due to sampling, and this avoids the need to refer also to the size of the estimate.

15 The following table contains estimates of RSEs for a selection of the statistics presented in this publication.


RELATIVE STANDARD ERRORS FOR TABLE 1, KEY FIGURES

	RSE
	%
Businesses at end June	3
Locations at end June
Capital city and suburbs	3
Other	8
Total	3
Active video hire store membership at end June 2000	4
Video rental transactions for the year ended 30 June 2000	3
Total employment at end June	3
Income
Income from the rental of videos, DVD's and video games	3
Income from the sale of videos and related goods	4
Other income	3
Total	3
Expenses
Labour costs	3
Video and DVD hire/rental	14
Purchase of videos and related goods	5
Other expenses	3
Total	3
Operating profit margin	7
Industry value added	3