ABS figures show ongoing industry decline

According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), growth declined 2.7% for the three months to December 2010 in comparison with the same period in 2009.

Pre-tax profits fell 25% in comparison to the same period in 2009, while sales declined 2.6%.

Hagop Tchamkertenian, Printing Industries national manager for policy and government affairs, said printers that had differentiated their offer were faring better.

“Generally speaking, those businesses that have ventured outside and have diversified to provide multimedia, data management and online services are growing at a much healthier rate,” he said.

“Standing still and hoping that things will improve is not going to improve anything. There are a lot of forces at play and printers need to be proactive rather than reactive.”

He added that the negative trend was only going to worsen if the carbon price framework was not handled correctly by the government.

“Any uncertainty is going to make the industry nervous and the worst thing we need right now is policy uncertainty,” he said.

The association recently said that addressing the government’s planned carbon tax was a “top priority”.

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