Company Notes
By LOTHBURY
DURING the year ended June 30, 1965, 3. Gliksten and Son, hardwood and soft- wood distributors and manufacturers of doors and plywood veneers, made record profits. The net amount after tax rose from £514,314 to £824,650, and the dividend from 28.9 per cent to 321 per cent plus an additional 71 per cent free of tax capital payment (this amount includes 5 per cent tax free paid in March). Any such payment made next year will not be free of tax. In spite of the import surcharge, this has not halted the increased sales of the group. Over- seas interests play a large part in the group's profit, as about a quarter of the total comes from that source. The chairman's report is de- tailed and well worth reading by any investor who is contemplating a long-term high-yielding investment in the timber industry which covers the whole world of timber and also a long period() of increasing dividends. The 5s. shares at 22s. yield 7.3 per cent.
Once again Birmid Industries has increased its sales and pre-tax profits, but the present train of rising costs casts some doubt as to whether the net result can be maintained. The com- pany caters for 'the motor industry in manufac- turing brake drums, motor cylinders and cast- ings. The net profit after tax for the year ended July 31, 1965, was £2,934,771 against £2,100,611% Any decline in sales from the motor industry would naturally adversely affect the company's current prospects, although to some extent these could be held up by a steady demand from the aircraft industry. The chairman points out in his excellent review that it is too difficult to forecast the immediate future for the company, but undoubtedly long-term prospects remain bright. The 5s. shares at I3s. 6d. on the 15 per cent dividend yield 5.4 per cent.
Another Midlands engineering company, J. Brockhouse, has done well in a difficult yew!) net profits after tax rising from £745,425 to £973,098, from which the dividend has been in- creased from 14 per cent to 15 per cent on the larger capital. The company's particular head- ache appears to have been a shortage of labour and supplies. It manufactures industrial and municipal sweeping machines, trailers, moulding machines and iron and steel castings. It also designs and fabricates structural steel work for the CLASP system of industrial building. The company has overseas interests in Canada and South Africa and also in Rhodesia, the last mentioned, of course, causing some concern at present. The £1 shares at 45s. yielding 6.6 per cent appear correctly valued on their prospects.
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