BIS Review 142/1996  -2-  The Tankan of November 1996 shows that the corporate profits of principal firms in both the manufacturing (excluding petroleum refining) and non-manufacturing sectors are forecast to continue increasing in fiscal 1996. Profit levels have risen particularly for manufacturing firms; the current profit-to-sales ratio is expected to reach over 4 per cent for the first time in five years.
As a result, euro area banks continue to underperform some of their international peers in terms of cost efficiency with an average cost-to-income ratio of 66%, compared with 55–57% at Nordic and US banks.