Bizval Indicator Report
for December 2025
We like to think of the Bizval Indicator as a ‘barometer’ of SME valuation multiples providing a perspective of the value of Australian small-to-medium sized businesses.
Unlike listed companies, the sale prices of SME’s are not readily available. The Bizval Indicator helps monitor movements in the drivers of SME values.
The Bizval Indicator is derived from key drivers of SME values and is then reviewed in the context of a basket of general economic indicators.
Bizval Indicator
| NOW | 1 YEAR AGO | MOVEMENT |
|---|---|---|
| 329 | 328 | 0.4% |
Source: Bizval, 31 December 2025.
Bizval Indicator rounds out the year with a slight increase.
The Bizval Indicator remained relatively stable over the 2025 calendar year, posting a minor increase of 0.4% on a yearly basis.
On a quarterly basis the Bizval indicator declined by 7.3%. This follows last quarter’s 2.3% decline, effectively reversing the gains of the strong June ‘25 quarter.
Actual valuation multiples from our data retracted again this quarter.
Business lending rates advertised by the big four banks remained unchanged.
The volume of businesses listed for sale increased by 1.6% over the year. This was the first year-on-year increase since 2023.
The most significant purposes of our valuations in the December quarter were ESOP, Family Law and partnership dissolutions.
General Economic Indicators
| INDICATOR | NOW | 1 YEAR AGO | MOVEMENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Ordinaries Index AU (1) | 9,019 | 8,421 | 7.10% |
| RBA Cash Rate AU (2) | 3.60% | 4.35% | -0.75% |
| GDP AU (3) | 2.10% | 0.80% | 1.30% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average USA (4) | 48,063 | 42,544 | 12.97% |
| Inflation Rate AU (5) | 3.40% | 2.80% | 0.60% |
| Unemployment Rate AU (6) | 4.30% | 3.90% | 0.40% |
(1) Source: Australian Stock Exchange, 31 December 2025
(2) Source: Reserve Bank of Australia, 10 December 2025
(3) Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 30 September 2025 (seasonally adjusted, yearly)
(4) Source: New York Stock Exchange, 31 December 2025
(5) Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 30 November 2025 (headline, yearly)
(6) Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 11 December 2025
Unemployment Rate
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was steady at 4.3% in November, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Sean Crick, ABS Head of Labour Statistics, said: “The unemployment rate has remained at 4.3% in five of the last six months.”
“Both the number of unemployed and employed people fell in November, by 2,000 and by 21,000 respectively.”
Full-time employment fell by 57,000 people, with males falling by 40,000 and females by 16,000 people.
Part-time employment partly offset the fall in full-time employment, rising by 35,000. Females working part-time increased 29,000 people, whilst males rose 6,000 people in November. (Source: ABS)
GDP
Australian gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4L% in the September quarter 2025 and 2.1% compared to a year ago (seasonally adjusted, chain volume measure), according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Grace Kim, ABS Head of National Accounts, said: “Economic growth was steady in the September quarter 2025. The rise this quarter matches the average quarterly growth since the end of the COVID‑19 Pandemic.”
“GDP per capita was flat for the quarter as economic growth was in line with population growth but remained 0.4% higher than a year ago.” (Source: ABS)
Drivers of SME Values
The Bizval Indicator is calculated using a proprietary formula. We research, monitor and evaluate the following components to arrive at the result.
ASX Small Cap P/E Ratios
Small Capitalisation companies have greater similarities to private SMEs than large cap stocks. Bizval reviews the mean and median price earnings (P/E) ratios of companies with market capitalization of between $20 million and $200 million. We adjust these figures to align them more closely with private SMEs by reducing the P/E ratios to account for differences in size, key-person dependence and ability to easily buy or sell (liquidity).
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Business Loan Interest Rates
Bizval monitors the advertised interest rates of Australian major banks for business loans. Using an average of these rates we then add a risk margin (commonly added to the base rate by banks when lending to small businesses). We also add a hypothetical margin for the SME proprietor to reflect their return on investment. This interest rate is then converted to a multiple.
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Businesses for Sale
Bizval undertakes a review of the volume of businesses listed for sale across Australia, taking into account any movements in this number.
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Bizval Multiples
We review an average of the multiples used in our business valuations and combine these with multiples from actual business sales (where available).
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In addition to the four drivers of SME values, the Bizval Indicator is evaluated in the context of six national / international General Economic Indicators.
The All Ordinaries Index (Australian Stock Exchange)
The ‘All Ords’ is the oldest index of shares in Australia, dating from 1980. It is derived from the share prices of 500 of the largest companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Reserve Bank of Australia Cash Rate
The RBA sets the target ‘cash rate’, which is the market interest rate on overnight funds. It uses this as the instrument for monetary policy, and influences the cash rate through its financial market operations.
Gross Domestic Product (Australia)
GDP is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced over a defined period of time.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (USA)
The ‘Dow’ is a US stock market price-weighted index monitoring the share trading performance of 30 large, publicly owned American-based companies.
Inflation Rate (Australia)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the average change over time in the prices paid by Australian households for a fixed basket of goods and services.
Unemployment Rate (Australia)
The proportion of unemployed persons in the labor force is seasonally adjusted to take account of changes in demand for agricultural labor, students seeking employment after completing education, and so on.
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