COMPANY NOTES
IN spite of higher spending in the popular retail stores, many of which will soon be reporting their past year's profits, mail-order houses con- tinue to prosper. One of the leaders in this group is Grattan Warehouses, which has achieved a new peak with a 6 per cent. profit increase, producing a group net profit after tax of £1,440,000. As it often the case, after the dividend announcement. (41 per cent.) the price of the shares was subject te profit-taking but has recovered to 64s. 6d. to yield 3.2 per cent. There is also to be a one-for-sever scrip issue, so that if the same rate of dividend was maintained this would work out at 354 per Cent. This is a share for the long-term invest°, who can expect an increasing dividend.
Three weeks ago another company, A. and S. Henry, surprised the market with record results producing trading profits of £899,000 against £728,000 and a net profit after tax of £425,642 This dividend was increased from 20 per cent. to 25 per cent. plus a special tax-free payment from the sale of property, which should be treated as a non-recurring payment. Conse- quently, the £1 ordinary shares rose from 81s. 6d to 96s. and are now 95s. yielding 5.2 per cent. This is the kind of share worth putting awe! for a higher payment as the chairman, Mr. F. Stockdale, looks forward to continued pro- gress. The group now has interests' extending beyond the textile warehousing trade into knit- wear manufacture, waterproofing materials, paek- aging and multi-wall paper sacks.
The third company of mail-order stores which will be reporting its dividend in May is Oxendale and Company, which last paid a-dividend of 581 per cent. plus a capital bonus of 100 per cent. Since then the directors have said that they are confident for the future. It will be sur- prising indeed if the dividend is not increased-- they have always been well covered by earning' --to more than justify the present price of the Is ordinary shares now 7s. 6d. yielding 3.9 per cent.
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