13/02/2001 - 21:00

List nets profit

By Noel Dyson

13/02/2001 - 21:00

List nets profitWA’S top 300 listed companies turned a profit during the past financial year, jumping from a massive collective loss to register a combined operating profit of $229 million.

List nets profit

WA’S top 300 listed companies turned a profit during the past financial year, jumping from a massive collective loss to register a combined operating profit of $229 million.

The profit for the year ending June 30 represented a turnaround of more than $1 billion from the $867 million loss recorded by the State’s top 300 listed companies in the previous fiscal year.

The improved result reflected the earnings of the minority with only 106 of the top 300 actually making an operating profit.

That figure, too, was an improvement on the previous year when 83 companies were in the black.

Even more striking in the positive nature of the turnaround was the fact that the shift into collective profitability came despite a fall in total revenue to $20.21 billion from $21.03 billion.

The results have been calculated from data collected for Business News’ Book of Lists, a financial database of company statistics and contact details which will be available for sale in March.

The data shows just how top heavy WA’s business sector is, with just 10 companies earning slightly more revenue than that produced by the remaining 290 companies.

In terms of profitability, the picture is even more skewed.

The biggest 10 profit takers made a combined $1.22 billion between them, which means the rest of the field lost $991 million between them.

WA’s companies collectively boosted their assets by about 8.7 per cent to $47.7 billion from $43.89 billion which gave them an average asset base of $159 million.

The number of women directors has also risen to 28 from just a handful about two years ago.

However, this is just 1.9 per cent of the total 1491 directors found on WA’s boards.

l See page 14 for the first instalment of information from our company lists.

List nets profit

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