26 MAY 1939, Page 55

PROPERTY COMPANY'S RESULTS War fears must inevitably have some effect

on those con- cerns whose business is the ownership and management of real estate in the big cities, and it is not surprising that London County Freehold and Leasehold Properties should show for the first time in eight years a break in the steady growth of

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FINANCIAL NOTES

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their earnings. Since the company is concerned with resi- dential property in the Metropolitan area a sharp fall might have been expected, and it is satisfactory to find that the gross earnings, before debenture and loan interest, fell only by £16,618 to £585,448. The directors advance the interesting argument that the company's property being split up into many blocks of flats in different parts of London is less vulner- able to air-raid damage than are many important industrial companies dependent on a single works or warehouse.

Over a period of years London County Freehold has pur- sued a prudent policy on repairs redecorations and renewals with the result that of the £too,000 provided for recondition- ing two years ago, £41,027 remains unspent, and will, thc directors indicate, be sufficient to complete the programme. Altogether, about £5oo,000 has been spent on reconditioning in recent years, and they indicate that future exceptional expenditure should be on a smaller scale. The total dividend is again ii per cent, for the year and the balance to go forward is increased by £3,190 to 4134,042.