Share Centre sees faster improvement in profits for UK top 350

19th Feb 2014 11:03

Pre-tax profits from the UK's top 350 companies reporting at the end of 2013 rose 43.7 per cent to 6.6bn pounds, according to the Share Centre.In its latest Profit Watch report, the independent stockbroker owned by Share, said the rise was the first in seven quarters, helped by lower write-downs and lower finance costs. Profit after tax up by 52% to £4.8bn, the fastest growth rate since mid-2011."We expect sales and profits to continue to improve in the coming reporting periods. What's more we think they will do so faster than most commentators currently expect, meaning the outlook is good for the stock market and investors," said Share Centre analyst Helal Miah. Revenues climbed 3% to £109.8bn. The report noted that while this was "sluggish" in a historic comparison, it was the fastest growth in revenues since the second quarter of 2012."Overall eleven sectors increased sales and six saw sales decline. This is the second best ratio or risers to fallers for a quarter in over a year and indicates a broad spread recovery beginning," Share Centre said."The UK economy has a spring back in its step and this is now clearly showing up in company results. Companies have produced feeble sales growth and declining profits for eighteen months, but fortunes are now rebounding," Miah said"With the UK expected to be one of the top performing economies in the developed world, we anticipate results from the mid-cap FTSE 250 companies to outstrip their FTSE 100 counterparts too."FP