In terms of inventories, merchant wholesalers held a total of $903.5 billion in stock at the end of July 2024, following seasonal adjustments. This was a slight increase of 0.2 per cent compared to the revised June level and a 0.4 per cent increase from July 2023. The June-to-July percentage change in inventories was also revised from the initial estimate of 0.3 per cent growth to a more moderate 0.2 per cent.

The inventories-to-sales ratio for July 2024 was 1.35, slightly lower than the July 2023 ratio of 1.38, indicating a tighter alignment of inventories to sales, as per the Bureau.

Retail corporations with assets exceeding $50 million saw a significant rise in after-tax profits, which were seasonally adjusted to $49.9 billion for the second quarter (Q2) of 2024, covering the three months ending July 31. This figure reflects an increase of $17.1 billion from the first quarter of 2024.

Similarly, manufacturing corporations reported seasonally adjusted after-tax profits of $210.9 billion for the second quarter of 2024, marking a $7.8 billion increase compared to the first quarter of the year.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)