The Financial Times had this to say about the latest figures issued by the Board of Trade on company profitss
"The rising trend in company profits is continuing, according to a Board of Tradeanalysis of the accounts of companies received in the six months ended March 31, this year. Gross trading profits of the companies included in the analysis, at £572,000,000, were 19% higher than a year agdes eeeeThe survey covers 624 companies whose accounting years ended in April, 1964, or later. They represent about one-third of all the companies analysed by the Board of Trade, and account for almost one-third of total assets and incomes..."
But as this journal has pointed out so often it is not only published profits which have to be watched. In the Board of Trade Journal's figures we see that for the 624 firms surveyed, the provision for depreciation has gone up from 210,521,000 to £236,764,000 - an increase of over £26,000,000. It is to be wondered what secrets those figures hold. Again we find that the amount spent on acquiring subsidiaries went up from £60 million in 1963 to £105 million in 1964. The sooner workers have the right of access to their companies! books the better!