Australia Yearbook - 2001

834 Year Book Australia 2001
Broadcasting Corporation, the Special
Broadcasting Service and commercial radio and
television services, is included in Chapter 12,
Culture and recreation.
Table 24.1 shows key measures of industry
structure and performance for the
Communication Services Division as a whole,
compiled from the ABS’s annual Economic
Activity Survey. As can be seen from the table, by
some measures the communication services
sector overall has been one of the fastest growing
in Australia. For example, sales grew from $17b in
1993–94 to over $29b in 1998–99. Other
measures have fluctuated over the years though
most indicators for 1998–99 were positive:
growth in the number of businesses continued
to be strong, with increases of 16% in 1997–98
and 10% in 1998–99;
employment reached a peak in 1995–96,
declined in the following two years, but has
had a small 1% increase in 1998–99;
gross operating surplus increased by 57% in
1997–98 but declined by 16% in 1998–99;
pre-tax profit, after recovering in 1997–98, had
a further 35% increase in 1998–99;
net worth grew by 14% in 1998–99, following a
5% rise in 1997–98;
capital spending has fluctuated over the years,
but increased by 20% in 1998–99; and
the gross product of the sector (the former
measure of unduplicated output and of an
industry sector’s contribution to Gross
Domestic Product) grew by 12% in 1994–95, by
only 2% in 1995–96 but by 16% in 1996–97. For
1997–98 and following years the measure of
unduplicated output has changed somewhat in
line with international standards (see footnote
(a) to table 24.1). The new measure, industry
value added, still measures an industry’s
contribution to GDP. Industry value added for
the communication services industries was a
strong $19.2b in 1997–98 but fell by 14% to
$16.5b in 1998–99.
24.1 COMMUNICATION SERVICES INDUSTRIES, Structure and Performance
Unit 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Industry structure
Businesses at 30 June no. 1 400 1 955 2 362 3 048 3 539 3 886
Employment at 30 June ’000 117 127 137 125 117 118
Income statement
Sale of goods and services $m 17 463 19 883 21 623 23 698 24 813 29 273
Less cost of sales $m 6 447 7 583 9 264 11 141 9 998 13 381
Trading profit $m 11 016 12 300 12 359 12 557 14 815 15 892
Plus interest $m 99 154 179 171 140 154
Plus other operating income $m 167 252 624 77 n.p. n.p.
Less labour costs $m 5 529 6 451 6 273 6 606 6 120 5 526
Less depreciation $m 2 348 2 572 2 791 3 026 3 090 3 483
Less other operating expenses $m 172 200 142 443 n.p. 379
Earnings before interest and tax $m 3 233 3 483 3 956 2 731 n.p. n.p.
Less interest expenses $m 762 615 723 742 n.p. n.p.
Operating profit before tax $m 2 471 2 868 3 233 1 989 4 388 5 911
Total assets $m 26 713 32 094 34 371 37 965 38 814 41 938
Total liabilities $m 13 457 17 814 17 729 23 715 22 816 24 808
Net worth $m 13 256 14 280 16 642 14 251 14 998 17 130
Capital expenditure $m 3 328 4 488 6 217 5 365 5 362 6 421
Gross operating surplus $m 5 676 6 153 6 614 8 352 13 082 11 011
Industry gross product(a) $m 11 205 12 605 12 887 14 957 . . . .
Industry value added(a) $m . . . . . . . . 19 203 16 537
(a) Starting with estimates for 1997–98, under the new international standard, the 1993 edition of the System of National
Accounts (SNA93), the contribution to GDP by industries is measured by ‘industry value added’ (IVA). Estimates for IVA measure
the value added by an industry to the intermediate inputs used by that industry. Previously the corresponding contribution to GDP
was measured by ‘industry gross product’ (IGP). Further information on the changes to international standards can be found in the
Information Paper: Implementation of Revised International Standards in the Australian National Accounts (5251.0).
Source: Business Operations and Industry Performance, Australia, Preliminary, 1998–99 (8142.0).