COMPANY NOTES
H. S. WHITESIDE AND COMPANY now own thirteen subsidiary companies, three of which were acquired during 1959. These new acquisitions contributed to the record sales of the group; in fact, Maconochie Brothers, who made a loss of over £70,000 in 1958, earned a net profit of £40,000 last year. In spite of fiercely competitive conditions operating in the food industry, Mr. T. A. Barnes, the chairman and managing director, is able to report a record turnover at home and overseas resulting in a net profit (after tax) of £193,946, against £133,363, which is equal to earnings of 72 per cent. on the enlarged capital. The group's pro- ducts include Sun-Pat raisins and peanut butter, Pan-Yan pickles and Kep sauce, Rob Roy sild and many other canned foods. The hot summer of 1959 was particularly unfavourable to the confectionery trade, but having regard to the strength of the company's marketing or- ganisation and the substantial programme of national advertising, the chairman faces the future 'with modest confidence. The dividend of 40 per cent, is repeated for the sixth year run- ning. The Is. ordinary shares at 6s. 104d. xd give a reasonable return of 5.8 per cent. The last accounts of the Melbray Group cover a period of eighteen months to March 31, 1960. The company was originally a catering concern, but over the past two years has considerably widened its interests to cover commercial X-rays, hospital and laundry equipment, the testing of metals, fuse links for radio and telephones and also paper and packaging. The illustrated report shows the various products made by the six subsidiaries, all of which, with the exception of Melbray Limited (the food company), have con- tributed to the substantial trading profit of £523,354, against £216,825. The chairman, Mr. R. A. G. Edwards, says' that- due to reorganisa- tion, the Melbray Company made a substantial loss, but its difficulties are now well on the way to being solved and he is optimistic concerning the prospects for the current year of the other subsidiary companies, which, he states, all need additional capacity. The net profit (after tax) was £242,577, from which a final dividend of 20 per cent. is to be paid in addition to the interim dividends of 374 per cent. already paid on the issued capital, which has been increased from £291,598 to £546,976. A one-for-eight scrip issue is also to be paid and it is the board's intention to supplement future dividends, from time to time, by the capitalisation of reserves. The outlook for this rather 'mixed bag' of com- panies, on the chairman's statements, appears promising. The 2s. ordinary shares at 15s. yield 5.1 per cent. on an effective 'annual rate of dividend of 381 per cent.
Lethenty Tea Estates have been very unlucky for 1959, reports their chairman, Mr. G. S. Napier-Ford; climatic conditions produced an abnormally heavy crop of tea in May, leading to extreme pressure being put on the factory equipment. One of the driers suffered damage and the teas manufactured became tainted and had to be disposed of at a heavy loss; otherwise very good prices were realised for the rest of the year. It is hoped that, for the current year, less but better tea will be produced, the estimated crop having been fixed at 1,100,000 lb. In a very difficult year a profit (before taxation) of £6,667 was earned at the expense of much hard work-which, of course, is disappointing. The chairman hopes and believes the unusual misfortunes that have beset the company in the past year will never occur again. The substan- tial credit balance of £43,828 brought forward from last year enables the company comfortably to pay a dividend of 74 per cent. on the 5s. ordinary shares, which are now quoted around 3s. 9d.
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