COMPANY MEETING
INTERNATIONAL STORES •
THE Annual General Meeting of The International Tea Company's Stores Limited will be held- on 1st October. The following are extracts from the State- ment of the Chairman, Mr. Frank E. Hawkins: Group profit before tax amounts to £2,142,544, compared with £1,903,416 for 1961; taxation ab- sorbs £1,090,928 (£956,344). A final dividend of 10%, making a total of 121% (same), is recommended for the year ended 28th April, 1962.
New records in turnover and profits were achieved despite price-cutting competition which made it necessary to operate on narrow margins. The biggest increases came from shops converted to self- service in the past few years. Last year we added 84 shops to this category, bringing the total to 406. We plan to open a further 90 self-service shops during the current financial year and the construc- tion of two large supermarkets is well advanced. Our main subsidiary, George J. Mason Ltd., with branches in the Midlands, Wales and Lancashire, is making excellent progress.
MORE CONVERSIONS TO SELF-SERVICE Expenses, especially in respect of increased wages and salaries, have been steadily rising, therefore we must expand our turnover. This we are aiming to do by proceeding with our plans for conversions to self-service and reorganisation of our ware- housing and clerical systems to achieve greater efficiency and economies. When our four new ware- houses are completed and brought into operation we expect to effect substantial savings. Our factories and bakeries have produced increased tonnage and have made a substantial contribution to Group
profits. . , I wish to express very real and sincere apptccia- lion of the :es ices rendered by all members of the Staff.
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