§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list the gross income from telephone rental, the gross income from charges for telephone calls and the overall profit of the Post Office's telecommunications division in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Les HuckfieldThe information is as follows. It is taken from published Post Office reports and accounts for the years 1972–73 to 1976–77.
(1) INCOME £ million Telephone Rental Call Charges 1972–73 322.0 562.2 1973–74 363.4 639.3 1974–75 441.1 767.8 1975–76 658.8 1,293.7 1976–77 747.1 1,660.5
(2) OVERALL TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROFIT/(LOSS) £ million 1972–73 (9.7) 1973–74 (61.4) 1974–75 (194.6) 1975–76 154.7 1976–77 264.4 The losses in the years 1972–73 to 1974–75 are before compensation for price restraint. The 1976–77 profit is after provision of £101 million for the elimination of profit above the Price Code reference level.