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• Performance Measures

• Small & Medium Enterprises

• Structure and Dynamics

• Archive

• Structure and Dynamics - 2007
• Structure and Dynamics - 2006
• Structure and Dynamics - 2005
• Structure and Dynamics - 2004
• Structure and Dynamics - 2003
• Structure and Dynamics - 2002
• Structure and Dynamics - 2001
• Structure and Dynamics - 2000
• Structure and Dynamics - 1999

Business performance measures are sourced from Statistics New Zealand's Annual Enterprise Survey (AES). The AES provides information on financial performance and financial position, and includes variables such as income, expenditure, profit, purchases of fixed assets, and equity. The AES data also form the basis of national accounting variables such as value-added, gross output and gross fixed capital formation.

AES data are taken from 2004 and 2005 to demonstrate changes in firm performance over time.

Businesses with 1-5 employees have the highest average real profits per employee.

Enterprises with 1–5 employees had the highest average real profits per employee in 2005 of all size groups ($29,194), although this result was lower than the previous year ($31,169). The next highest results in 2005 were enterprises with 100-499 employees ($16,069) followed by enterprises with 6-9 employees ($15,601). Those two categories have reversed positions since 2004.

Figure 29. Average Real Profit per RME by Enterprise Size 2004-2005

→ Full size version of Figure 29 [14 kB GIF]

Businesses with 5 employees or fewer accounted for a large proportion of total profits.

As was the case when 2003 and 2004 data were compared last year, businesses with 5 employees or fewer recorded a share of almost 40 percent of all profits in 2005. This reflects that they account for 87 percent of all enterprises, and their total profits of $10.05 billion were up 6.2 percent from 2004. Enterprises with 100 or more employees, while accounting for less than 1 percent of enterprises, recorded 30.1 percent of total real profits. Compared to 2004, profits of enterprises in this size bracket increased by 8.3 percent.

Figure 30. Total Real Profit by Enterprise Size 2004-2005

→ Full size version of Figure 30 [14 kB GIF]

Businesses with 100–499 employees recorded the highest average real sales and other income per employee.

As was the case in 2004, businesses with 100–499 employees recorded the highest average real sales per RME ($229,575) in 2005. Overall, average real sales and other income per RME by enterprise size remained relatively consistent from 2003 to 2005.

Figure 31. Average Real Sales and Other Income per RME by Enterprise Size 2004-2005

→ Full size version of Figure 31 [16 kB GIF]

Larger firms accounted for almost half of combined sales and other income.

As was the case in 2003 and 2004, a large share of total real sales and other income was attributed to firms employing 100 or more RME (47.6 percent), reflecting the size of the individual enterprises. SMEs had a share of 33 percent of total sales and other income in 2005.

Figure 32. Total Real Sales and other Income by Enterprise Size 2004-2005

→ Full size version of Figure 32 [15 kB GIF]

Average salaries and wages tend to increase with firm size…

In 2005, average salaries and wages paid to employees were greatest for firms employing 100–499 employees ($36,446 per RME). The greatest increase in the average salaries and wages paid to employees by enterprise size bracket was the 20-49 bracket (25.6 percent) from the previous year. In contrast, enterprises with 50-99 employees saw their average salaries and wages reduce by 15.6 percent between 2004 and 2005.

Figure 33. Average Real Salaries and Wages per RME by Enterprise Size 2004-2005

→ Full size version of Figure 33 [17 kB GIF]

…and larger firms account for over 50 percent of total salaries and wages.

The share of total salaries and wages paid to employees by firms with 100 or more employees was 51.7 percent in 2005, down from 52.1 percent in 2004. SMEs accounted for 25.4 percent of total salaries and wages in 2005, a similar result to the previous year.

Figure 34. Total Real Salaries and Wages by Enterprise Size 2004-2005

→ Full size version of Figure 34 [17 kB GIF]

Table 5 provides a comparison of average performance measures per enterprise.