§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will compare the size of Great Britain's five largest companies with that of the five leading Japanese enterprises, giving the 139W number of people employed in each case, capital structure, profitability and gross sales.
§ Sir G. HoweA true size comparison cannot be made, principally because Japanese company accounts are not fully consolidated. The most recent data
United Kingdom company groups Data are for the year ending 31st December 1971, except for British American Tobacco for which he figures relate to the year ending 30th September 1971. Turnover* Profit after tax Capital employed† Number of employees in UK £m. £m. British Petroleum … 3,153 154 2,027 28,000 Shell Transport and Trading … 2,923‡ 163 2,200‡ 32,000§ British American Tobacco … 1,847 84 834 20,000 Imperial Chemical Industries … 1,524 96 1,852 137,000 Unilever … 1,357 40 581 89,000 * Including the turnover of overseas subsidiaries. † Tangible assets net of depreciation less current liabilities and sundry provisions (other than bank loans and overdrafts and future tax). ‡ 40 per cent, of figure for Royal Dutch Shell Group. § Figure for all companies of the Shell group, including Shell Mex and BP.
Japanese industrial companies (excluding trading, banking and insurance) Data are for years ending between 1st April 1971 and 31st March 1972; they are based on the dollar figures published in "The President Directory", converted to sterling at average rates of exchange in 1971. or at the rate of exchange at 31st December 1971. Turnover Profit after tax Capital employed ║ Number of employees £m. £m. Nippon Steel … … … 1,627 21 2,679 88,000 Toyota Motor … … … 1,363 50 646 41,000 Nissan Motor … … … 1,304 45 1,129 48,000 Hitachi … … … 1,040 28 1,279 97,000 Matsushita Electrical Industrial 995 54 654 46,000 ║ Stockholders' equity plus borrowed capital.
Japanese trading companies Data are for years ending between 1st April 1971 and 31st March 1972; they are based on figures expressed in yen published in the Japan Economic Journal of 23rd May 1972, converted to sterling at the average rate of exchange in 1971 Turnover £m. Mitsubishi Corporation … 6,138 Mitsui and Co. … 5,853 Marubeni Corporation … 3,662 C. Itoh and Co. … 3,358 Sumitomo Shoji … 2,696