COMPANY MEETING
BEECHAMS PILLS
FURTHER EXPANSION
ftiE seventeenth ordinary general meeting of Beechams Pills, Limited, was held on August 9th at the Dorchester Hotel, London, W., Sir J. Stanley Holmes, M.P. (chairman and managing director), presiding.
The following is an extract from the chairman's statement circulated mrh the report and accounts: The trading profit for the year ended March 31st, 1945, earned by the companies of the Beecham group operating in the British Empire and in almost all parts of the world (Europe excepted for the time being) amounted to £2,501,642, as compared was £2,409,256 in the previous year. During the six years ended March 31st, 1945, the group's total contribution To the National Exchequer has amounted to over £7,000,000. The export profits for the year ended March 3ist, 1945, amounted to t375,726, as compared with £322,600 in the previous year, a result which represents a substantial increase in sales, particularly of non-medicinal :oods. This is most gratifying, having regard to the exceptional difficul- ties of export after five years of war.
COMPANY'S NEW NAME.
The directors propose that the name of the company shall be changed from Beechams Pills, Limited, to Beecham Group, Limited. The title of Beechams Pills, Limited, was appropriate when the company was ori- ginally registered, as it named its only product, but to-day it is a mis- nomer, as the sale of the famous pills represents only 3 per cent, of the groups' turnover. The change of name will prevent our seeing in the Press in the future, as we have in the past, our profits described as coming from the sale of pills, a statement which ignored the large part of our revenue derived from Macleans toothpaste, Brylcreem, Amami shampoos and many other products, both medicinal and non-medicinal.
For a number of years our policy has been that, while we would con- tinue to develop the sales of our world-famous proprietary medicines, we would broaden the base of our business in other directions. In pair- liance of this policy we have recently entered the food market and have purchased a number of businesses producing proprietary foods, and in particular that of C. and E. Morton, Limited.
The report and accounts were unanimously adopted and the proposed .hange of name was approved.
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