Profitability of UK manufacturing companies hits 2003 low
(Office for National Statistics)
The ONS has released its report on the profitability of UK companies for the second quarter of 2013. The figures mostly fall into line with the results from the same time last year. However manufacturing companies' net rate of return was at the lowest since the first quarter of 2003.
Private non-financial corporations’ profitability was estimated at 11.4 per cent in quarter two 2013 roughly the same as levels seen in the last year and a half but still below the numbers reported in 2011.
Manufacturing companies’ net rate of return was estimated 7.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2013. Service companies’ net rate of return was estimated at 15.1 per cent in the same period – no change from the first quarter 2013.
UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) companies’ net rate of return 37.4 per cent in the second quarter of the year up from 32.6 per cent in the first.