ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH SECURITIES.
Some three years ago when Mr. C. Bruce Gardner was appointed to the Chairmanship of Armstrong Whitworth Securities Company, Limited, that company had in the previous year been working at a loss of L531,000. How materially the situation has improved may be gathered from the fact that for the year 1936 there was a small profit of £15,000. This in itself was good news for the shareholders, but in the course of his speech last week at the annual meeting Mr. Gardner was able to announce a development of still greater importance, namely, that the company had effected a sale of its Scotswood and Close Works, which are to be given over to the manufacture of munitions, and although the name of the purchaser was not disclosed at the meeting, it has been generally assumed that the buyer was the British Government.
Assuming such to be the case, the development is one which has met with general approval inasmuch as it means the taking over of works already suitable for the manufacture of munitions, thus meeting the question of the speed required in connexion with the rearmament programme and also, it may be hoped, the avoidance of unnecessary waste which might be incurred at a later date if a number of munition works had to be scrapped. Moreover, Mr. Gardner was able to state that the sale had been effected on terms satisfactory both to the buyer and to the company, so that in any final realisation of the assets of Armstrong Whitworth Securities the chances of Ordinary shareholders receiving something have been somewhat increased.
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