05/04/2004

UK businesses lead Europe in wealth creation: DTI figures

British companies are creating wealth faster than businesses in the rest of Europe, according to government figures released today.

The 2004 'value added scoreboard', published today by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), lists the wealth created by the top 600 European and top 800 UK companies. It shows that 'value added' by the top UK companies has increased by 4%, compared to a European increase of 1%.

The UK also has the highest number of companies in the top 600 businesses in Europe with 165; Germany has 89 and France 83.

The wealth created by a company, measured as value added, is defined as sales less the cost of bought-in materials, components and services. The scoreboard ranks companies by their value added, and also gives details of areas like sales, profits and productivity.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the scoreboard highlighted the "importance of investment" in areas like research and development.

"These results show the UK's strong position in Europe, and are very encouraging. Efficient wealth creation and re-investment by business is vital to the continued growth of the UK economy and our future prosperity," she said.

As a group, the 'value added' for the 165 UK companies in the European 600 increased by 5%. The 89 German companies increased their value added by 1% and the 'value added' for the 83 French companies dropped by 1%.

(gmcg)

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