Britain's top companies had a torrid 2012 as nearly a third of their profits were wiped out while revenue growth was sluggish at best, a new report has revealed, and profits would need to bounce back by 40% to justify the recent market surge.
The weakness reflected a 'perfect storm' for the country's three most dominant industries - financials, oil and gas, and miners, say the number crunchers who compiled the Profit Watch UK report, according to the Daily Mail. So does the current stock market rally suggest investors are being over-optimistic about a recovery this year? Perhaps, as market valuations imply that a 40% bounceback in profits is expected in 2013. Sales at the UK's biggest companies rose just 2.1% in 2012, the slowest pace of growth in at least five years, according to the Profit Watch report from online broker...
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