Company Notes
THE accounts to June 30, 1961, from M. J. Gleeson (Contractors) are disappointing, the net profit having fallen from £518,450 to £353,625. The after-tax figures were £169,556 against £294,999 in 1960. The chairman, Mr. J. P. Gleeson, attributes the fall to the disastrous wet weather prevailing in the second .half of 1960, which' so disrupted building contracts, and also to rising costs. Turnover for the current year is being fully maintained and, with some good con- tracts in hand, the chairman is confident for the future. A dividend of 35 per cent. (covered one and a half times by earnings) is being paid on the 2s. shares, which at 9s. 6d. yield 7.4 per cent.
Viscount Hall, the chairman of Gwent and West of England Enterprises, gives shareholders a very full account of the company's activities and its subsidiaries. The principal one is Anglo Auto Finance; others are Hodge and Co. (In- surance), Gwent and West'Finance Co., Godfrey Motors, Glam-Mon Motors and St. Donat's Holiday Estates, the largest residential caravan
site in the country. The group has so many promising developments on hand that it is not surprising that Mr. Julian S. Hodge, the dynamic managing director, hopes once again to double the trading profit. This he has done each year since 1959—no mean achievement. Pre-tax profits for 1961 were £445,507 and the dividend at 40 per cent, has been doubled. The 5s. shares at 18s. yield 2.3 per cent.
Sir Dallas Bernard, Bt., chairman of the British Bank of the Middle East, includes in his report for 1961 the usual interesting summary of happenings in the various countries where the bank has branches and interests. The group net profit increased from £297,624 (for nine months), to £407,160 for the full year. A large amount of the bank's income is derived from the oil-producing countries in the Middle East. 01. which Saudi Arabia and Iran increased their Output by as much as 12 per cent. The 16 per cent. diVidend is maintained.
Once again Cable and Wireless (Holding) Ltd. has increased its gross income, which, over a ten-year period, has risen from £986,435 to £2,345,553 in 1961. Through the two issues in April, 1961, a one-for-five free and a one-for- ten at 10s., raising just over £2 million, some of this new money has obviously been usefully employed. Cable and Wireless Holding and Globe Telegraph and Trust (both , located at Electra House) each hold one-half of the equity in Cable Investment Trust, whose assets exceed £20 million. Earnings after tax amounted to £1,161,876 and the 10 per cent. dividend (6d. Per 5s. share) accounts for £781,911. This is equivalent to 65 per cent. of the available income on the increased capital and compares with 61 per cent. for 1960. 'The 5s. shares give a yield of 3 per cent. at 16s. 9d.
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