Record profits for non-financial companies

The gross profit before tax of non-financial companies in the Netherlands amounted to 218.1 billion euros in 2017. That was 21.5 billion euros more than in 2016. According to Statistics Netherlands, this is the highest amount since 1995. In 2017, almost half of the increase in profit came from profits from foreign subsidiaries. Petrochemical companies in particular, such as Shell, achieved higher profits through their foreign subsidiaries. Gross profit before tax amounted to EUR 54.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to EUR 49.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. Never before has such a high profit been recorded in the fourth quarter, reports CBS.