Oil and miners drive UK profits to six-year high of £210bn

Rise of 86%

Profits on UK plcs jumped 86% to £210.8bn in the year to the end of June, the highest since 2012, according to the latest Profit Watch UK report.

The report from The Share Centre looks at quarterly and interim results reported during the three months to the end of June 2018. The firm has updated its methodology to use most recent results rather than just annual results and to compare and contrast with analyst forecasts.  The sharp increase in profits was driven by a large one-off profit from British American Tobacco (BAT) which acquired Reynolds American. If this was excluded, then profits rose 66%.  RBS to pay first dividend since financial crisis Oil also helped; profits for oil businesses were seven times higher than in t...