Business page

Aust’s privately-owned firms riding wave of strong economy

SYDNEY: The widening gap in business performance between the boom commodity states and the rest of the nation has been highlighted in a new survey.
Over the past 12 months profits in Western Australia and Queensland have risen at three times the rate of businesses in NSW and twice the rate of businesses in Victoria, says the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Private Business Barometer.
Over the same period, nearly all business in WA and 84% in Queensland exceeded their set revenue targets.
By contrast, only 15.7% of NSW and 10.9% of businesses in Victoria beat set revenue targets.
But the report also showed Australian businesses were benefiting from a strong domestic economy, with those surveyed recording an average increase in profits of 11.3%.
The survey, released yesterday, of more than 750 privately-owned Australian businesses revealed that nationally 85% either met or exceeded revenue targets over the past financial year.
The businesses surveyed, all of which had annual turnovers of between A$10 million and A$100 million, recorded an average rise in sales of 13.2%.
The survey results indicated a healthy but slowing demand and improvement in margins, PwC said.
The survey showed that businesses in Western Australia and Queensland continued to record a higher growth rate on average than their NSW and Victorian counterparts.
Heightened volatility in capital markets and a pending federal election had increased the pressure on the entrepreneurial community but had not affected performance, which has remained strong,” PwC partner Gregory Will said.
The overwhelming majority of businesses surveyed acknowledged funding as their No. 1 challenge, Will said.
Close to half of the businesses surveyed planned to hire more full-time or part-time employees over the next six months.
However, more than half of those surveyed said they were struggling to find the right people.
“The reality is that finding the right people was constraining growth and this is reinforced in the survey,” Will said. – AAP

Editorial

Talking Point

My Say

Asia watch

Focus