Inventories in Australia were down a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, standing at A$119.34 billion.
That compared with analyst expectations that had forecast a 1.4 percent quarterly decline following the 1.9 percent fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. On an annualized basis, inventories were down 1.1 percent.
Manufacturing sales were down 2.8 percent on quarter, while wholesale trade was unchanged.
The data also showed that companies' profits were down 7.2 percent - defying forecasts for a 5 percent fall after the 6.5 percent decline in the previous three months.
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