Unite press release

For immediate release: Friday 24 March 2023

Unite declares ‘step forward’ as Bank of England grudgingly acknowledges the role of rising prices in soaring inflation

But Andrew Bailey is still refusing to acknowledge the depth of the profiteering crisis

Commenting on the Governor of the Bank of England’s warnings on price rises’ role in propelling inflation (Friday 24 March), Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:  “Andrew Bailey’s lacklustre acknowledgement of the role price rises are having on inflation is a step forward after years of targeting workers.

“However, the Governor of the Bank of England is still refusing to acknowledge the depth of the crisis. The UK is in the grip of a profiteering epidemic - it is greedflation, not workers’ wages, that is fuelling the cost of living crisis.

“The profits of Britain’s biggest firms have spiked 89 per cent: to claim that there is no evidence of excessive profiteering just isn’t credible.

“Policy makers seem determined to remain prisoners of a broken economy. They need to wake up.”

New Unite research, analysing the FTSE 350 shows how profit margins for the first half of 2022 were 89% higher compared to the same period in 2019 (see also notes to editors).

Notes to editors

Profiteering Report Briefing: March 2023

In 2022 the profits of the 350 largest companies in Britain have increased by 89%* compared to 2019 pre pandemic levels - the money is there to pay workers what they are owed. Taking on profiteering ends the false choice of pay rises or austerity. (FTSE 350 companies: 2019 to the first half of 2022.)

Industry examples: Unite Investigates analysed the industries which together have the biggest impact on inflation to find evidence of significant profit increases since the pandemic

 

Industry

Profit increase

Big 8 Shipping firms

20,650%

Oil refineries (profits per barrel)

366%

Food (Agribusiness)

255%

Big 4’ Energy

84%

 

Industry

Profit increase

Food (Supermarkets)

The top three supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – between them sell over half the UK’s groceries. They made combined profits of £3.2 billion in 2021, nearly double pre-pandemic levels.

Food (Manufacturing)

Eight of the UK’s top food manufacturers made a combined profit of £22.9 billion, up 21% since before the pandemic.

 

(Associated British Foods, Hilton Food Group, Arla Foods, Unilever, Cranswick, , Mondelez UK, Bakkavor, Nestle)

Food (Agribusiness)

The four giant agribusiness corporations - ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus - dominate key commodities. They made $10.4 billion, up 255%.

Energy (Networks)

The UK’s electricity and gas grids are run by private monopolies which made a combined profit of £6.3 billion – with operating margins over 40%. Companies include National Grid, UK Power Networks, SSE, Cadent Gas

Energy (Generators and Suppliers)

The top four energy providers made combined profits of £9.5 billion, up 84% on 2019. (Centrica, E.ON, EDF and Scottish Power)

Oil and Gas

The top global oil companies made £174.5 billion in 2021, 37% higher than before the pandemic. (Includes, BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips, Saudi Aramco.)

Refineries

Profits per barrel jumped 366% between June 2021 and June 2022

(Includes, Exxon Mobil, Valero, State Oil Limited, Phillips 66, Essar, Petroineos Refining Limited)

Transport Logistics

The UK’s top 100 road freight companies jumped up, on average, 67% compared to before the pandemic.

(Includes Deutsche Post AG (DHL), Wincanton, XPO, Fed Ex, UPS)

Container Shipping

8 big companies made a combined £62 billion in profit, up 20,650%. (Includes Maersk, CMA, Cosco, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen.)

Ports

Four of the major port companies reported profit margins between 11% and 24%

(Peel Ports, DP World, Hutchison Ports, APB)

Manufacturing

The top ten producers of semiconductors made a combined profit of £44 billion – up 96% compared to 2019.

(Includes BMW, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung)

 

ENDS

Contact: Ciaran Naidoo 07768 931 315

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Unite is the UK and Ireland’s leading union fighting to protect and advance jobs, pay and conditions for members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.