§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing in historic and replacement cost terms, the level of profitability in industrial and commercial companies, both gross and net of depreciation and stock appreciation, for each of the year since 1959 as a percentage of (a) capital employed and (b) turnover;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the level of profitability in manufacturing industry measured in historic costs and replacement cost terms for the years since 1959 as a percentage of (a) capital employed and (b) turnover, both gross and net of depreciation and stock appreciation;
(3) whether he will circulate a table in the Official Report showing for the years since 1959 the gross trading profits of (a) manufacturing companies and (b) industrial and commercial companies, together with profits after depreciation and stock appreciation, as a percentage of gross domestic product.
§ Mr. EyreEstimates of profits in historic cost and replacement cost terms as a percentage of capital employed were published in the article "Companies' rates of return on capital employed" in the 28 September 1979 issue ofTrade and Industry. The national accounts estimates of company profits which form the basis of table 1 are in the process of being revised and should be published by the end of April; a full run of revised estimates of profits as a percentage of gross domestic product will then become available.
Tables 2–4 of the article referred to are based on the Department of Industry's analysis of company accounts, and this is the only basis available for estimating profits as a percentage of turnover. Figures for gross trading profits—before deducting depreciation and stock appreciation—as a percentage of turnover for 1969–77 were published in tables 9 and 241W 10 of the Business Monitor MA3 "Company finance", tenth issue. Replacement cost profits for large listed manufacturing companies as a percentage of turnover are as follows:
Large Listed Companies: Manufacturing Industries Year per cent. 1969 5.5 1970 4.2 1971 4.6 1972 5.5 1973 4.0 1974 1.9 1975 1.2 1976 2.6 1977 3.0