COMPANY MEETING
BRITISH-AMERICAN TOBACCO
THE thirty-seventh annual general meeting of British-American Tobacco Company, Limited, was held on January 15th in London.
Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, Bart, the chairman, who presided, said: The account shows a net profit for the year, after deducting all charges and expenses and providing for increased taxation under the War Budget, of £5,165,453, a decrease of £425,433.
The net profits for the year, as you are already aware, are £425,433 less than the preceding year, but you will have appreciated that the net profits for the year are after providing for increased taxation under the War Budget.
The total dividend for the year on the Ordinary Stock amounts to 3s. tod. per £1 of Ordinary Stock, against 4s. for the ps2vious year. You will not overlook the fact, however, that dividends on the Ordinary Stock are paid free of United Kingdom Income Tax, so that the gross yield to Stockholders in respect of the year under review is actually greater than in respect of the previous year.
In view of the conservative policy followed in past years, your directors considered that, under existing circumstances, they were justified in recommending a dividend distribution which, together v‘ith the interim distributions would be approximately equiva- lent to the net earnings for the year, and that the allocation to Provision for Contingencies should be made out of profits accumu- lated in past years.
The accounts under review only cover one month of the war, but we have been at war now over four months and during this initial period we have had to adjust ourselves to the new condi- tions brought about by hostilities. I would say, however, that the Government Departments with whom we have come into contact in connexion with the adminis- tration of these laws and regulations, have shown not only a broad-minded and sympathetic appreciation of our difficulties, but also an earnest desire to assist your company's business as much as possible. Your company's business, as you are aware, is primarily an export business, or a business conducted in overseas markets, which especially at this time, it is a matter of national importance for us to endeavour to maintain and increase. The war has closed some sources of supply of raw materials, but we are gradually finding others, and with the world-wide scope of your company's undertaking your directors feel confident that the company will, in this respect, be at no disadvantage as against its competitors.
The report was unanimously adopted.
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