§ Dr. McDonaldasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will give full details in the Official Report of the differences between the calculation of profits and profit margins for price control purposes by the Price 688W Commission and the calculation of profits on accepted accounting principles.
§ Mr. MaclennanProfit margins calculated under the present Price Code may differ from those calculated for the purpose of companies' published accounts in the following major respects:
- (a) Profits on exports and certain other sales excluded from price control do not appear in profit margins for Price Code purposes.
- (b) As a partial move towards inflation accounting the Price Code permits depreciation charges to be raised by a factor of 1.4 if they have been based on historic cost valuations or on revaluations made before the price controls were introduced.
- (c) For the same reason the Price Code permits stock relief, equivalent to 70 per cent. of any increase in the value of stocks, to be deducted from current profit margins.
§ Dr. McDonaldasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the profits of the category I firms, listed on page 41 of the "Report of the Price Commission for the period 1st September to 30th November 1976" as calculated by the Price Commission and the profits calculated according to normal accounting principles, for the six-month period June to November 1976.
§ Mr. MaclennanIt is not possible to disclose information which individual companies submit to the Price Commission since the information is confidential under the Counter Inflation Act 1973.