Statistics: Profitability of UK Companies, Q4 2013

Key Points

• Private non-financial corporations’ profitability, as measured by their net rate of return, was estimated at 11.7% in Q4 2013, at the higher end of the range experienced during the last five years, but lower than the rates experienced in 2008.
• Manufacturing companies’ net rate of return was estimated at 12.1% in Q4 2013. This is the highest recorded rate since Q2 2008.
• Service companies’ net rate of return was estimated at 13.9% in Q4 2013, within the range experienced during the last five years, but lower than the rates experienced in 2008.
• UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) companies’ net rate of return was 30.4% in Q4 2013. This is the lowest estimated rate since Q3 2009.
• Non-UKCS companies’ net rate of return was 11.0% in Q4 2013, at the higher end of the range seen in the last five years.
• To see the above data in more context, data for earlier periods are shown at Table 1 and data for longer time periods are presented in the graphs at Figures 1 to 4.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.1.0.