Company Notes
MR. JOHN OLDHAM, OBE, chairman of Oldham & Sons Ltd. of Denton, Man- chester, battery and electrical engineers, gives shareholders with his report for the year to March 31, 1961, a detailed account of how the company founded in 1865, has in the last fifteen years expanded its business into four continents and exports to 90 countries. Now the group has in France two manufacturing units, at Arras and Douai. A public company was established in South Africa in 1949, one in Madras, India, in 1950 and one in Atistralia in 1953' and in the last two years the last mentioned has formed a sales and service company in Dunlop Oldham Pty. Ltd. in association with the Dunlop Rubber Co. of Australia. The chairman is a firm believer in personal contact being made with those countriesk to which they export. He has himself in the last twelve months visited the four above- mentioned countries where a very efficient after- sales service has been established. The company has an excellent training scheme for young executives, fitting them to accept responsibility and so maintain the fine reputation established by Joseph Oldham, the founder, the present chairman's grandfather. The net profit after tax increased from £227,843 to £297,583, the divi- dend is again 17f per cent. on the capital as in- creased by a scrip issue last year. Fixed assets are in the balance sheet at £1,226,563, but these were last valued in 1939. The chairman considers that the present time is probably the most dif- ficult in which to make predictions for the future, but with a company so well placed in over- seas markets and under such vigorous manage- ment, investors can have considerable confidence in the ls. ordinary shares at 2s. 9d. giving an ex- cellent return of 6.3 per cent.
A very full report appears in this issue of the activities for the past financial year of Associ- ated-Rediffusion. This company is the commer- cial television contractor for the London mid- week services. The pre-tax profits for the year have increased from £7,840,198 to £8,430,676, producing a net surplus of £3,931,591. This com- pany has great possibilities for the future; the dividend on the ordinary shares has been in- creased from 20 per cent. tax free to 30 per cent. tax free. British Electric Traction has a 50 per cent. interest and Rediffusion a 37; per cent. interest in the equity.
The chairman of Unigate, Mr. G. Ivor Price, states, in his report for the year ending March 31, 1961, that the progress of the merger between United Dairies and Cow and Gate is continuing. He goes on to say that milk production in the UK has reached record levels, but the selling prices as prescribed by the Government only permit a net profit of id. per pint and even less in the London area. Thus on the large turn- over for 1960-6l, when group sales were as high as £192 million, the gross margin of profit was only 3.2 per cent. The group's other divisions, which include Wilts creamed rice, Golden Acres
(Continued on page 404) butter, St. Ivel cheeses and Farmer's Wife double Devon cream, continue to prosper, whilst exports are up by 10 per cent. The net profit (after tax) increased by £324,890 to £3,359,345. The 5s. ordinary shares at 15s. 100. are a sound long-term investment stock, yielding 4.4 per cent.
Purnell and Sons, the colour printers, etc., in- tend in the near future to raise additional capital in the form of a rights issue or by a convertible loan stock to finance a large programme to ex- pand the packaging, photogravure and rotary- litho divisions. Group net profits for the past year rose from £363,531 to £371,620 and it is encouraging to hear from the chairman, Mr. W. Harvey, that trading of the group for the current year is up on the same period as last year. He also states that Waterlow and Sons, acquired in 1960, are now operating at a profit and will con- tribute a substantial sum towards the 1961 profits of the group. The 5s. ordinary shares at 17s., yielding 5.8 per cent., look a promising invest- ment, especially as the chairman states that as soon as the Chancellor sees' his way to relax the present position, he will feel justified in recom- mending an increase on the present dividend of 20 per cent.
We offer our apologies to the chairman of Broom and Wade for inadvertently describing him in our issue of September 8 as Mr. H. 'Dick' Wade, instead of Mr. H. 'Dick' Broom. Also the reference to the rights issue made this year should have read 1 for 6 at 22s. 6d. per share.
Previous page
