Financial Performance of Government Trading Enterprises 2000-01 to 2004-05

The Productivity Commission has released its update on the financial performance of 85 Australian, State and Territory Government trading enterprises (GTEs) in July 2006. The report also examines the capital structures of GTEs and capital withdrawal by State and Territory governments. The 85 GTEs monitored in this report controlled assets valued at more than $186 billion and generated $63 billion in revenue, accounting for 86 per cent of all revenue generated by government owned businesses. Some key findings include: aggregate profitability increased in the electricity, water and urban transport sectors compared with the previous year; profitability declined in the railways, forestry and ports sectors; and despite some improvement, a majority of the monitored GTEs failed to obtain commercial rates of return in 2004-05. Financial performance monitoring of GTEs forms part of the Commission’s research into the performance of Australian industries and the progress of microeconomic reform. The monitored GTEs provide services in key sectors of the economy — including electricity, water, urban transport, railways, ports and forestry.