Results for 2013

Bible Society Australia has completed a very active year achieving the goals set at the beginning of the year in distribution, translation and engaging the community both locally and internationally with the Bible.

We have been encouraged by the smooth integration of Centre for Public Christianity into the Bible Society’s advocacy activities in Australia.

The Flying Bible Ministries relocated to Cairns from Darwin during 2013 in order to better service a greater proportion of the Indigenous populations while also being closer to the service and support needs of the plane. As a consequence, we sold the residence we owned in Darwin resulting in a profit above book value of $481,872. In addition, we experienced a significant uplift in the value of our investments of $1,294,363. Conversely, bequests were greatly reduced from levels received in previous years, down $744,354 from last year. Of course, this income source is very dependent upon the generosity of donors and their families and in the hands of our Lord.

The consolidated net surplus for the year is $61,043. This is a change of $860,860 on the Society’s deficit of $799,817 for the prior year primarily due to:

• improved performance in Bible Society investments following the general uplift in the local markets $1,294,363 (compared to $770,248 in 2012) with a total return from investments at 19.3% for the year;
• sale of our Darwin property above book value by $481,872;
• a reduction in payments to UBS and other overseas programmes in 2013 of $514,093;
• a write down of $272,522 was included in 2012 following a decision not to proceed with the purchase of a property in Queensland; and
• the major campaign in 2012 (25 Words) was not repeated to the same level in 2013 saving $306,384.

These movements have been offset in part by:

• a reduction in bequests received of $744,354 noting that the nature of this income is variable;
• lower contribution from the Bible Society Trustees’ Deposit Fund by $96,709;
• a fall in general donations of $184,759 or 2.8% (if we exclude CPX donations not included last year);
• lower book sales in an increasing competitive market resulting in a lower gross profit of $88,632 though margins did improve from 43% to 49%; and
• lower interest rates and the move from equities to a more risk averse investment strategy impacted both dividend and interest income by $85,349.

The total incoming resources is $12,085,312 (2012: $13,102,900), a decrease of 7.77% from the prior year due to a fall in book sales of $633,858 or 17.8%; and bequests mentioned above of $744,354 or 43.3%.

Barry Morris, FCA
Chief Financial Officer