'Two-thirds' of firms see rise in sales, says Profit Watch

Things are looking up again for many of the UK's largest companies after a period of falling profits, according to research.

Profit Watch UK says two-thirds of reporting firms registered a rise in sales over the three months between July and September.

But overall revenues were dragged down by poorly performing commodity companies.

It meant total revenues for UK public limited companies - firms where shares in the company are available to the public - were down 0.8%, or £7.4bn.

Most of this discrepancy can be attributed to resources giant BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , which has suffered badly from falling commodity prices.

If its results are excluded, then overall plc profits rose by 9.1%.

Profit Watch reports quarterly on the profits of UK companies and is part of the Share Centre, an independent retail stockbroker.

Housebuilders did particularly well off the back of a robust property market, and multinational firms - which account for a large percentage of public limited companies - look to have benefited from the falling pound.

Sterling dropped almost 20% against the dollar after the Brexit vote, meaning goods produced by UK companies become cheaper for buyers abroad.

Firms which rely on UK consumers, however, could soon be hit by expected inflation rises.

Helal Miah, analyst at The Share Centre, said "retailers will need to consider whether to pass on increases in the cost of food and clothing, or see margins squeezed".

"This means that companies more exposed to British consumers will be relative losers compared to those with international earnings streams."