The total annual profit of Jersey’s financial services sector was 3.6 per cent higher in 2005 than in 2004, according to the States authorit...

The total annual profit of Jersey’s financial services sector was 3.6 per cent higher in 2005 than in 2004, according to the States authorities, representing the first annual increase for five years. Jersey’s Survey of Financial Institutions 2005 reports that the increase represents growth above the underlying rate of inflation of 1.3 per cent. The survey’s estimates for total profit for Jersey’s finance sector in 2005 is £1.05 billion ($1.92 billion) with two-thirds of firms anticipating higher profits this year. Trust and company administrators were the most optimistic, whilst banks were the least. Bank profits rose by 3 per cent last year, the first increase since 2000, whilst profits for trust and company administrators (including legal firms) and fund managers increased by 8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Profits for accountancy firms were also higher than in 2004. Profit per employee in Jersey’s finance sector in 2005 was £98,000 per full-time employee, about £2,000 higher than in 2004. More than half of all firms anticipated that staff levels would increase in 2006, though less than a third of the largest employers anticipated increased staffing.