The profitability of British companies outside the financial sector rose to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2006, official figures showed today.
The Office of National Statistics said the net rate of return on non-financial UK companies was 15.5 per cent in the three months to December, up from 15.2 per cent in the third quarter.
The rate of return for manufacturing firms rose to 10 per cent from 6.9 per cent, the highest since the second quarter of 2005.
Service companies' net rate of return rose to 20.9 per cent from 19.5 per cent, while the rate of return for North Sea oil companies eased to 33.5 per cent from 37.3 per cent, its weakest since the second quarter of 2005.