LONDON, Jan 13, Reuters -- Britain's financial services grew for the third quarter in a row in the last three months of 2021 and at their fastest pace since mid-2017, even though COVID 19 dampened optimism, a survey of 105 firms in the sector showed.
Since the transition period ended, the health of British financial services is closely monitored at www.reuters for a year. com markets europe covid-is masking-hit finance-brexit- says-city london - 2022 -- 01 - 05 after the city of London was cut off from the European Union.
As volumes and profitability growth remain buoyant, the softening in optimism is something to watch closely due to increased COVID 19 uncertainty that affects the near-term economic outlook, CBI Chief Economist Rain Newton-Smith said in statement.
The survey of 105 financial firms by the CBI employers group and consultants PwC was completed just before the new restrictions were introduced in Britain last month to tackle spiralling cases of the Omicron variant of coronaviruses.
The survey found that firms expect activity to be robust and at a strong pace in the first three months of 2022.
Profitability growth is expected to be softer in the coming months, with numbers projected to grow solidly and retaining top workforce priority, it said.
Britain said that large companies must disclose climate-related financial data from April 2022, as well as in April 2022, from April 2022 onwards. Com world uk britain-says company-climate disclosures-will be mandated 2022 -- 2021 -- 10 -- 29 using a globally-agreed set of guidance.
The survey showed that 40% of firms were somewhat prepared for April, with 14% saying they were not ready, and remaining companies saying they were fairly or very prepared.