Security costs eating into company profits

The amount of money businesses spend in the country on security measures can be as high as their average profit margin, a survey has found.
According to the 2017 Survey of Businesses in Papua New Guinea, the private sector reported that the cost of protecting their assets and losses from crime amounted to 10 per cent of their total costs.
The industry reporting the highest cost was tourism.
Businesses in Mt Hagen (Western Highlands), Goroka (Eastern Highlands) and Chimbu spend the most on security.
The study revealed that a wide range of business concerns such as overvalued exchange rates and high input costs made it difficult for Papua New Guinea exporters to compete overseas.
It said the business environment has not improved since the previous survey.