Profitability down, return on equity slightly up

Non-financial limited companies had an operating profit of NOK 368 billion in 2015, down from NOK 487 billion in 2014. Companies in mining and quarrying, including petroleum and gas and transportation and storage, contributed the most to this fall. On the other side, companies in construction and wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles had a slight upturn. More details in Statbank table 08120.

• See more figures and tables in the Accounting Statistics for non-financial limited companies

Net profit, however, increased from NOK 196 billion in 2014 to NOK 251 billion in 2015. This gave an improved return on equity that corresponds to NOK 5 on every NOK 100 invested in 2015.

Stable profitability on Mainland Norway

Operating profit margin and return on equity for companies on the mainland did not change appreciably, from 6.8 per cent and 6.3 per cent in 2014 to 6.3 per cent and 5.9 per cent in 2015 respectively.

Substantial decline for petroleum activities

Unlike the companies on the mainland, the profitability of companies in petroleum activities decreased significantly, from 20.1 per cent in 2014 to 12.2 per cent in 2015. The fall in operating income was the largest contributor to this decline.