§ Mr. Marlowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the profit per employee earned by the clearing banks; and how this compares with the profits per employee in manufacturing industry.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 4 December 1980]: I regret that only the following information can be provided without unreasonable costs being incurred. It is 107W mainly based on information included in company reports and not fully representative of the groups of companies requested. For both groups of companies, while the employment numbers relate only to those employed in the
Profits and Employment 1976 1977 1978 1979 The four major London clearing bank groups: 1. Profits before tax (£m)(†) 700 896 1,096 1,563 2. Less depreciation (at historic cost)(‡) (£m) -85 -95 -116 -148 3. =1–2 615 801 980 1,415 Employees in UK (000's)(††) 231 235 244 251 5. Profits per employee (3+4) £2,660 £3,410 £4,015 £5,635 A panel of manufacturing companies:(‡) 1. Profits before tax* (£m.) 9,658 10,520 **£1,539 2. Less depreciation (at historic cost) (£m) -2,24 -2,452 3. =1–2 (£m.) 7,434 8,068 4. Less short-term interest payments (£m) -957 -993 5. =3–4 (£m.) 6,477 7,075 6. Employees in UK (000's) 4,674 4,596 7. Profit per employee: (a) 3+6 £1,591 £1,755 (b) 5+6 £1,386 £1,539 Sources: *Less hire of plant and machinery. (†) Report of the Committee to Review the Functioning of Financial Institutions (Cmnd 7937), Table 54. (††) Annual Reports and Accounts of the four major London clearing bank groups. (‡) Business Monitor MA3: Company finance: Eleventh Issue, Table 1 (HMSO 1980). The panel is not fully representative in respect of type of industry and size of company. **Figures for later years are not available.