Shift Business Index
February 2023
Shift uses transaction data from a representative sample of business in Australia to gain insights into their financial and operational performance.
YoY: 88
YoY: 94
YoY: 97
YoY: 104
Key Takeaways
- Liquidity fell by 9 points in February (- 11% MoM, -23% YoY), following a 7 point drop over January.
- The finance spend index, which tracks finance commitments, grew by 1 point over February to a YoY growth of points (+0.8% MoM, +26% YoY).
- The Construction Industry enjoyed strong sales following its seasonal January low, up 20 points (+ 24% MoM, + 18% YoY). The Transport sector also grew sales over February, growing 5 points on the index (+4% MoM, +22% YoY).
Liquidity Index
Following two consecutive months of decline on the Sales Index, liquidity within the Hospitality industry fell 9 points over February (-14% MoM, -33% YoY).
Across industries, Construction and Retail Trade experienced the smallest decline on the liquidity index over February. Construction was down 3 points (-4% MoM, -18% YoY), with Retail Trade down 8 points (-10% MoM, -18% YoY)
Key Measures
Sales
The Sales Index tracks changes in sales to measure business performance. The Sales Index was up 6 points in February, up (+7% MoM, + 2.26% YoY).
- Growth in sales was led by the Construction and Transport industries over February. Construction was up 20 points (+ 24% MoM, + 18% YoY) and Transport up 5 points (+4% MoM, +22% YoY).
- Sales within the Hospitality sector fell over February, down 9 points (-8% MoM, +11% YoY).
Finance Spend:
- Finance spend tracks business costs on financial commitments, including obligations such as bank loans and asset finance repayments.
- Over February, the Finance spend index grew 1 point. The Construction and Transport sectors had the largest YoY growth on the finance index. Construction up 1 point (+0.12% MoM, + 33% YoY) and Transport is up 5 points (+3.7% MoM, 29% YoY)
Key Measures – Business Costs
(Supplier Spend)
Supplier spend tracks business costs and expenditures on goods and services, material and equipment, utilities, fuel and insurance.
Supplier spend grew 3 points this month (+ 3% Mom, + 3% YoY).
Key Measures - Business Costs
(Wage Spend)
Wage spend tracks business spend on wages and salary payments. Wage spend grew 8 points over February (+7% MoM, + 13% YoY).
About the data
Shift Business Index
The Business Index is baselined to February 2021, using six months of average transactions as the denominator.
The Index is calculated by taking a representative sample of businesses from around Australia varied by size, industry and location and looking at their credit transactions across all account types (e.g. transaction, savings and credit card).