ASSOCIATED ELECTRICAL INDUSTRIES
It is apparent from Sir Felix Pole's review at the Asso- ciated Electrical Industries meeting that shareholders can look forward to steady, but almost certainly not to increased, dividends during the war period. The chairman re-empha- sised the board's determination to maintain dividends at a steady level. That policy explained last year's substantial allocation to dividend equalisation account and was respon- sible for the immensely strong financial position disclosed in the balance-sheet. He also explained that any liabilities arising out of the company's business in Poland were fully provided for. Losses on contracts had been covered in the 1939 accounts and an investment in a company with in- terests in Poland had been written off. The group has entered 1940 with a large volume of orders on hand, but Sir Felix feels, with many other industrialists, that Govern- ment help should be offered to the British manufacturer in the drive for export markets. A.E.I. £1 ordinary shares at 39s. 6d. yield just over 5 per cent. on the Pt, per cent. dividend rate. They are a sound industrial holding.
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