COMPANY MEETINGS
ENGLISH ELECTRIC COMPANY
PROFIT MAINTAINED
THE twenty-third annual general meeting of the English Electric Company, Ltd., was held on February 18th in London.
Mr. G. H. Nelson, M.I.E.E. (chairman and managing director), in the course of his speech, said: Our creditors are up by ,C608,000, of which a very large part is accounted for by additions to our tax reserve. The substantial increase in our bank overdraft is entirely due to the financing of work in progress and will therefore be self- liquidating as and when the volume of work falls. Our liquid assets are £2,965,066, or £46,083 more than in 1940. The general reserve has been increased by a further Lroo,000 and now stands at £700,000. After applying depreciation of Ltoo,000 there is a slight increase in our fixed assets, both in buildings and plant. This has been financed from the unspent balances on depreciation from previous years. The profit carried to the balance-sheet is practically the same as 1940. We are proposing to you that we shall again pay a dividend of 10 per cent. on our ordinary stock, leaving £51,o18 to be carried forward. Your directors believe that it would be in the national interest for Parliament to translate the Chancellor's explicit statement, at an early date, into equally explicit legislation and so to place it beyond any doubt that companies which have devoted themselves without stint to the war effort will not, by the necessary severity of war taxation, be unreasonably hampered in their post-war effort to provide stability of employment for their own staff and workpeople. I can assure you that our works are fully occupied and that we have received heartening expressions of appreciation of what we arc doing and of the reliability of our promises. We recognise that the world after peace will have many problems, that no great manufacturing organisation will be immune from them and that no one else can solve them for us. With a loyal and efficient team of technical staff and skilled workers, with a strong financial position and high reputation, we look with confidence to playing a worthy part in the work of reconstruction, both at home and abroad, when the war is won.
In conclusion the chairman referred to the magnificent effort of the company's staff and workpeople.
The report and accounts were adopted, and in addition to the 6f per cent. preference dividend a dividend of to per cent. was declared on the ordinary stock.
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