According to an analysis of hundreds of company accounts, it seems that large corporations have fueled inflation with price increases that go beyond the rising costs of raw materials and wages. “This means the average profit margin of firms in the FTSE 350 jumped 89% in the first half of 2022 compared with the first half of 2019,” the report said. In the UK, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Asda made combined profits of £3.2bn in 2021, almost double pre-pandemic levels, Unite’s report shows. Global food manufacturers such as Nestlé have also increased profits and margins over the last 18 months. The report claims that higher profit margins are the result of ‘tacit collusion’ by large companies, adding to the prices of hundreds of goods and services that were already under pressure after the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Source: The Guardian March 13, 2023 19:24 UTC