Performance Measures
| Profits per FTE are highest for small firms | Profits per FTE, illustrated in figure 21, are significantly higher amongst small enterprises than any other size group. Figures are highly variable between years, but in 1997 the lowest level of profits per FTE was recorded by those with 20-49 FTEs. |
| Profits for all firms declined between 1996 and 1997 | Also of note in these statistics is the decrease in profitability observed across all size groups between 1996 and 1997, presumably resulting from the downturn in both the world and local economy. This reduced profitability is most apparent amongst firms with 20-49 employees, with average profits per FTE falling by 72 percent between 1996 and 1997. Those employing between 10-19 FTEs also saw a fall in profits per FTE of 25 percent. Smaller falls of 13 and 12 percent were recorded for those with 0-5 and 100+ FTEs respectively, with decreases of several percent recorded by other sized businesses.
It is also interesting to note that despite only a small decrease in profits between 1996 and 1997, those employing 50-99 FTEs saw a much larger decrease between 1995 and 1996, with a fall in profits per FTE of 50 percent. |
Figure 21 - Real Profit per FTE by Enterprise Size
| Small businesses recorded the largest combined profits | Due to the number of small businesses in operation, enterprises with less than 5 FTEs recorded the largest combined profit in 1997. However, the average profit for these enterprises was only $57,000 compared to an average of $6.7m for enterprises employing 100 or more FTEs. |
Figure 22 - Real Profit by Enterprise Size
| | As illustrated in figure 23, sales and other income per FTE increase with enterprise size over the first five size brackets, then decrease slightly for those firms employing 100 or more FTEs. This initial increase may reflect increasing returns to scale, with diminishing returns contributing the lower result recorded by the largest firms. |
| Annual income has remained largely static for all firms | Annual income per FTE has remained fairly static for all firm sizes over the period from 1995 to 1997, with only slight increases observed amongst firms employing 6-9 and 50-99 FTEs and small decreases recorded by those in other size brackets. |
Figure 23 - Real Sales and Other Income per FTE by Enterprise Size
| Large firms have the highest combined income | Summing figures over all firms in each size bracket, total sales and other income in 1997 were largest for firms employing 100 or more FTEs, reflecting the size of the individual enterprises. Each enterprise in this size bracket generated an average income of $78m in 1997. The relatively high level of sales recorded by small enterprises reflects the large number of businesses with less than 5 FTEs, with each individual enterprise recording an average income level for 1997 of only $209,000. |
Figure 24 - Real Sales and Other Income by Enterprise Size
| Wages are highest for firms with 50-99 FTEs | Real salaries and wages per employee13 are highest for those enterprises in the 50-99 FTE size group, with small increases observed across most size groups over the last few years. |
Figure 25 - Real Salaries and Wages per Employee by Enterprise Size
| Large firms account for 50% of total salaries and wages | Total salaries and wages paid to employees are greatest for all firms employing greater than 100 FTEs, accounting for 50 percent of all monies paid out. In contrast to the figures for both sales and profits, firms employing 20-49 FTEs record the second highest value, accounting for 14 percent of all payments. Small firms who contribute 11 percent follow in third place, with similar payments made by firms employing 10-19 and 50-99 FTEs. |
Figure 26 - Real Salaries and Wages to Employees
| | Table 5 gives statistics from 1997 relating to the average performance of firms within each size group, giving an indication of the relative sizes of firms in each bracket. |
Table 5. - Average Performance Measures by Firm Size
Enterprise Size | Average Profit ($) per firm | Average Income ($) per firm | Average Salaries ($) per firm |
| 0-5 FTEs | 56900 | 209000 | 20600 |
| 6-9 FTEs | 105000 | 990000 | 144000 |
| 10-19 FTEs | 155000 | 2030000 | 329000 |
| 20-49 FTEs | 129000 | 5180000 | 908000 |
| 50-99 FTEs | 776000 | 14300000 | 2410000 |
| 100+ FTEs | 6663000 | 78100000 | 13700000 |
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