Financial Notes

ME Stock Markets during the past few: days have been qUiet and dull. Nor, of course, is the reason far to seek. Uncer- tainty as to political developments has had the effect of restricting business., while ankietY with regard to the currency ' crisis in France has also been a restraining influence. Finally, the fact that the Stock Exchange has entered upon one of:its long three weeks' accounts, to be broken by the Easter holidays, has had the usual effect of restraining speculative commit- ments, to say nothing of the fact that immediately after

• Easter will come the Budget, pending which there will be the usual uncertainty as to its provisions. Unless, however, there shOuld • be unfavourable political developments; it looks • as though we might see a fair resumption of activity after the Easter holidays.

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RECORD MOTOR PROFITS.

Even allowing for the fact that the latest accounts of Morris Motors Limited cover two months in which the figures of two new Subsidiaries are included,- the advance in trading profits from £1,044,000 to £1,650,000 is sufficient to show that, quite apart from the new Subsidiaries, the business must have been advancing by leaps and bounds. Moreover, even more striking is the advance in the net profit from £543,972 to £1,194,C00. The dividend on the Ordinary Shares has now been raised.to 15 per cent., free of tax; as compared with 10 per cent., and is the highest rate paid since the formation of the Company-sin 1926. A sum of £600,000 is transferred to the Reserve, against £150,000 a year ago, and £70,000 is placed to Income Tax Reserve, leaving £238,531 to be carried forward. As usual, the balance-sheet is a strong one, showing Cash totalling 11,617.000 and Investments in British and Dominion and Corporation Stocks of more than £3,000,000.

I.C.I.* * * *

RESULTS.

The latest report of Imperial Chemical Industries, Limited, is an excellent one and by reason of the various ramifications of the Company's operations, the figures constitute a good expression of the general improvement in trade. In net revenue, there was an increase for the year of £357,432 and the net Income, after, again providing 11,000,000 for central obsolescence and depreciation and £645,891 for Income Tax, amounts to £6,706,539, being the highest figure in the Com- pany's history. Including £608,000 brought in, the total amount now available is £7,314,990 of which the Preference Dividend takes £1,590,738 and the Interim Dividend of 21 per cent. on the Ordinary Shares, £1,093,994. A sum of 11,000,000 is appropriated to General Reserves as in the previous year and £217,366 to Contingent Dividend Reserve with £150,000 to Workers' Pension Fund. The Directors state that as a final legal decision on the capital reorganisation scheme may not have been reached, it is proposed to pay a final dividend of 51 per cent., making`8 per cent. on the old Ordinary Stock and a dividend of 4 per cent. on the Ordinary Stock, resulting from the consolidation of the Deferred Shares. This latter payment is equivalent to 2 per cent. on the old Deferred capital as last year. After paying these dividends, £638,740 is carried forward, and it may be noted that the Dividend ReserVe referred to is to be used to make up the dividend on the Ordinary Stock, resulting from the consolidation of the Deferred shares, to the full 8 per cent. in the event of no appeal to the House of Lords being lodged or such appeal being (Conlinued on page 640.)

For COMPANY MEETING REPORTS see pages 640-641-642-643-644-645-646-647-648.

Financial Notes

(Continue[] front- page 6384.

decided in the Company's favour. Some idea of the number of shareholders in this_important. Company may be gathered by the fact that the annual meeting to be held on April 27th will be at the Queen's _ . _ * * *

, Jour BARKER'S PROFITS.

During the past year there was a considerable expansion in the trading profits of John-,Barker and Co., which rose from £1,521,000 to £1,584,000, hit-the report states'., that expenses in connexion with the provision of temporary showrooms during , rebuilding , were . heavy and have been charged to revenue, Coxisequently, ,the net profit has only risen from £408.000 to £410,000. A further_sum of £150,000 has been placed to Rebuilding ;Reserve 'and. a similar amount , has been. written -off-Property Account from 'this Reserve, but -the dividend remains at 15 per-cent.

- * * * * SCOTTISH AMICABLE.

At the recent annual general meeting of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society, Mr. D. Bruce Warren, Chairman of the Ordinary Board of Directors, was able to report very substantial progress by. the Society during the past year. The net new sums, assured, namely, 11,86.3,919, exceeded the preVious , record figure. reached • in .1934 by £117,580. Moreover, it is interesting to note that the figure also . showed an increase of 50. per cent. on the total for the corresponding- year of the previous quinquennial period- in 1930.• The aggregate amount payable -on the -deaths:- of members was .only 77 per cent. of the amount expected tinder the -A 1924-1929 mortality tables and ohly 54 per cent,' of the amount expected according to the OM mortality ;tables which was the previous basis of valuation. Life assn ce Had annuity funds Increased during the year by 287, 24 and now exceed L12,000,000.. The Chairman. remarked that the liVe years ended December 31st- last -had seen.-some extra- ordinary changes, the most important result • of which had been the marked improvement in the standard of British Government long-term- credit. The available surplus was £1,362,562, a sum which, apart from other- considerations, would have justified the maintenance of- bonuses at the flame rate as .declared for the preceding- quinquennium. • in view of the uncertain outlook, however, the Directors had-'decided to adopt • a conservative course, and of the surplus available 11,075;321 had been applied to provide bonus additiank at the rate of 2 per cent. per annum to ordinary with-profit policies and at the rate of 10s. per cent: per annum to'pcilicies effected -under the Society's. minimum prerainni-, systemcal- culated in both cases on the 'compound principle, . Measpred as a percentage of the original sum assured, the rate of bonus declared on ordinary with-profit policies. represented an addition for the quinquennial period- ranging, from- £2 to £6 2s. 4d. per cent. per annum according to the duration of the policy. The Chairman spoke hopefully with regard to the future, stating that -the Directors. had felt justified in declaring an interim bonus at the full rate of £2 per cent: per annum, also calculated on the compound principle:

* * * * HALIFAX BUILDING

I referred recently in these. columns to the good. progress of the Halifax Building Society -as indicated by the annual report, and the favourable impression created by that document was • strengthened by the address delivered by Sir Enoch Hill' at the recent annual :Meeting. Not the - least interesting part of Sir Enoch's address, was that in which he showed the extent to which the Society's funds were being used mainly for the benefit of those acquiring small homes. It appears that as regards 168,320. of .existing mortgages, the amount owing on individual -mortgages is less than £500 and on the whole of the Company's mortgages, including the large ones, the average amount owing is only £400 each. The year was a profitable one for the, Society and the DirectOrs have been able to distribute, in addition to interest, a bonus of 10s. per cent. to Paid-up Shareholders, Class 1, and a bonus of 21 per cent. to-the monthly Subscription Investing Shareholders. • Thit- makes: a Adtal yield, for the year to Class 1 Shareholders of SR 17s. (id. per cent., and to Subscription Shareholders of £4 7s. 6d. per cent., both' free of tax.

* * ' * * MUNICIPALITIES AND MORTGAGES.

Later in his address, when referring to -the signs of the peak of the demand for houses by occupying owners having been reached, Sir Enoch stated- that the Directors have been in constant touch with the Surveyors and Valuers of the

(Continued on page 644.) Financial Notes - (Continued from page 440.)

Society and have been adjusting values in the light of present and future circumstances. Sir Enoch referred to the increasing tendency on the part of Municipal Authorities to enter the mortgage service field by making loans under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts of Parliament on terms favoured by advantageous Government loans, subsidised to some extent out of the local rates. Concerning this matter the Chairman of the Halifax Building Society said : I venture to express the opinion that it is unnecessary to subsidise the purchase of houses whilst there are ample facilities aVailable for assistance by self-supporting institutions," * *

PORTLAND CEMENT.

The Chairman of Associated Portland Cement Manu- facturers, Limited, Mr. P. Malcolm Stewart, when presiding at Monday's meeting of the company, was able to present a report and balance-sheet showing a remarkably strong position. Among other things, he stated that the company's holding of over £1,500,000, or 75 per cent. of the issued ordinary capital of British Portland Cement Manufacturers, stood in the company's books at some £5,000,000 less than its market value. This potential reserve, however, does not figure in the balance-sheet but, of course, has to be taken into consideration when determining the financial position of the company. For the past year, there was a trading profit increase of £231,656, which Mr. Stewart said was chiefly accounted for by improved turnover and rather higher average selling price. While, however, the tonnage sold in export markets increased, selling prices showed a further reduction. Mr. Stewart spoke hopefully as to future prospects.

RAND MINES.

Reports from the various Transvaal Mines continue to be favourable, and the report of Rand Mines, Ltd., showed the profit last year was £900,409 compared with £862,133 for 1934. The company paid two dividends totalling 155 per cent. against 150 per cent. in the previous year, these dividends absorbing £811,871. During the year the Investment Reserve was strengthened by the appropriation of £232,971, being the profit on sales of investments over their book value. Invest- ments themselves increased in book value by £287,000 to £3,710,000, and the report states that the market value still largely exceeds its book figure.

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BANKING IN INDIA.

In the unavoidable absence of the Chairman, Sir Charles C. McLeod, the Deputy-Chairman, Mr. R. Langford James, pre- sided at last Tuesday's meeting of the National Bank of India and delivered a very interesting address dealing with present conditions in India, while he made some particularly interesting comments on the present position of the jute industry. This he described as being in a somewhat uncertain state at the moment. Outside competition, he said, has become so serious that the Jute Mills Association—with which are associated, (Continued on page 646.)

MI■111w1m, AmmEafx!=•

Financial Notes (Continued from page 644.) as signatories to the short-time agreement, certain of the - outside " mills—approached the Government of India with a request for legislation to protect the industry. That request has been refused and Mr. Langford James was obliged to say that the present outlook for the whole industry in Bengal is not

encouraging. India's exports of and cotton goods were also less in value for the year. Imports of raw cotton, on the other hand, showed a large increase, the value rising front Rs. 3,93,00,000 to Rs. 7,78,00,000. Imports from the United Kingdom, however, showed quite a substantial falling oil. while from Japan there was an increase. Mr. Langford James also referred to the falling off in imports of sugar into India. the amount imported last year being only 204,000 tons as against 1,003,000 tons in 1929, which was the peak year for such imports.

* * * *

TILE CHARTERED BANK MEETING.

At the annual meeting of the Chartered Bank of India, Aus- tralia and China, the Chairman was prevented by illness from attending and Sir Williath Foot Mitchell presided in his place. Not the least interesting part of his address was concerned with international trade as a whole, which is still in a most unsatisfactory condition. After referring to the British Government's policy of trying to arrive at mutual agreements between the various countries of the world, Sir William Mitchell said : " I regret I can see little hope of a revival in world trade until sanity returns to the Councils of the nations, and until the artificial bolstering of crops and industries—the production of which would be quite uneconomic without this assistance gives way to a more rational policy of apportioning the production of goods to the countries which are best suited to produce them." A remark full of sound common sense. Sir William paid a tribute to the handling of Indian Govern- ment finances, and he also made some very interesting com- ments with regard to recent developments in China.

* *

BRITISH INSULATED CABLES.

At the annual meeting of British Insulated Cables, the Chairman, Sir Alexander Roger, was able to report that the output last year eclipsed all records. Among other things, he stated that the 100,000 tons of the Company's manufactures which had passed through their gates ranged from the heaviest of cable work down to a length of enamelled winding wire sufficient to girdle the earth at the equator more than 125 times. A very good idea of the widening field of the Com- pany's activities was given in Sir Alexander's reference to the telephone developments which have culminated in the estab- lishment of an all-British group with combined assets of about £12,000,000 in the electrical and communications world. The prospects for the immediate future, he said, remained good. With regard to the financial policy of the Company, Sir Alex- ander stated that the profit increase of £113,831 had been achieved partly from economies in costs and partly from in- creased turnover. In spite of the good results of the year, the Board is pursuing a conservative policy and is refraining at the moment from any share bonus distribution (15 per cent. on the Ordinary Shares and a cash bonus of 5 per cent. have been declared), though the Chairman expressed the hope that results in future years might enable them in time to repeat the cash bonus.

* * * * A PROGRESSIVE INDUSTRY.

Remarkable progress is being achieved by General Refrac- tories, Limited, and at the recent, annual meeting, the Chair- man, Mr. Frank Russell, was able to report a record profit of over 155,000, with sales 25 per cent. higher than had previously been reached. Moreover, these results seem to have been obtained although the whole of the new capital raised during the year was not employed for the full period. The Chairman further stated that the combined output capacity of fire bricks of all kinds was now no less than 26,000,000 per annum, though so far from any question of monopoly, being involved, he men- tioned that there were over 300 concerns engaged in the indus- try in this country. With regard to the future, he stated that the business done during this year was so far well in advance of that for the corresponding period of last year.

A " FLEXIBLE " TRUST.

While the established Fixed Trusts maintain their popu- larity, it is noticeable that the newer Trusts are being formed

(Continued on page 648.) Financial Notes (Continued from page 646.1

on more flexible lines. In fact, the latest trust, entitled " Electrical Industries Trust " is described as a new " flexible " trust. It has been formed under the auspices of the British Industries Fixed Trusts, the chairman being Mr. Hartley Withers. As indicated by its title, the investments of the trust will comprise the stocks and shares of some forty-one. companies and corporations directly, or indirectly, connected with electrical supply or kindred concerns. The trustees will be the General, Accident, Fire and Life Assurance Corporation, and the managers are Allied Investors Fixed Trust, Ltd. The object of the trust is to facilitate investment in the group of industries concerned with electric supply and electrical manufacture and equipment. Investors, for sums of about £50 and upwards, will be able to secure an interest in a range of securities spread over the best available investments in this particular field. Within the list of permitted securities, the managers have discretion to choose and vary the investments of the trust as market conditions and prospects may dictate, subject only to the limitations that not more than 5 per cent. of the Trust Fund may at any time be invested in any one security and not more than 5 per cent. of the issued capital. of any one company may be held in the trust. The Trust Fund, at its commencement, will be divided into 10,000 units, and the price of the units is determined daily by valuation of the assets of the fund at the Stock Exchange buying prices of the day. Units may be obtained in any quantity in multiples of live, subject to a minimum holding of 50. Full particulars of the undertaking are contained in a brochure which can be obtained from the managers—Allied Investors Fixed Trust, Ltd., at 165 Moorgate, E.C.

* * * UNION CORPORATION.

Another South African company which has done well during the past year is the Union Corporation, which shows in its report a realised net profit of £604,920, compared with £565,816 for 1934. The Reserve has been raised to £1,280,000 by the addition of £40,189, and the dividend is again made up to 8s. per share, or 64 per cent, for the year.

A TRUST OF BRITISH TRANSPORT.

I have received a preliminary booklet describing a new Investment Trust shortly to be introduced and managed by the Trust of Transport Shares, Limited. It is to be called " Trust of British Transport," and its securities. cover various forms of British transport, including railways, 'buses, motor-cars, shipping, aircraft, &c. It is a " flexible " Trust, the managers being empowered to invest in any 'one of the 167 companies authorised by the Trust Deed, though' not more than 5 per cent. of the Trust's funds can be invested.in any one company. The custodian trustee for the certificate holders will be the Royal Exchange Assurance, and the

bankers are Barclays Bank, Limited. A. W. K.