British Sugar Corporation This is a case of private enterprise
inde- pendently run, but with 25 per cent of the equity held by the Sugar Board and 114 per cent by the Government.The company was originally formed to buy the UK crop of sugar beet, refine it and sell the sugar products, except for a small part sold as raw sugar to Tate and Lyle. The Gov- . ernment limits the acreage on which beet may be cultivated-it grows about a third of our total sugar requirements-and fixes the price which the farmer receives for his crop. The new arrange- ments made with the Government in 1964 allow the company to operate commercially, but the standard price fixed provides the company with a profit of £1.8 million before tax. Profits can ,be increased beyond that by reducing unit costs -either by higher productivity or better-quality crops-or by getting higher prices for the by- products. In the year to September 1966, earnings are estimated at 2.93s. per share, with a price- earnings ratio of only 8.5. At 25s., to yield 4.8 per cent on the 1.2s. dividend, the share are not dear.
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