Company Notes
ELLIS AND GOLDSTEIN, manufacturers of women's clothes under the trade names of `dereta,"Eastex' and 'Rembrandt,' have done well for the year ended November 30, 1960. Pre-tax profits' of £850,534 were a trading record, showing a considerable increase over those for 1959 at £680,061. The directors have decided to make a small scrip issue of one for ten is. ordinary shares, and in doing this will bring the com- pany's total issued share capital to over £1 mil- lion. In doing so all the issued shares will qualify as an investment under the forthcoming new Trustee Investment Bill. The chairman, Mr. Samuel Goldstein, reports that group profits for the first six months of the current year show an increase. The outlook seems encouraging, with the dividend covered 2.4 times. The Is. shares at 9s. 6d. yield 3.7 per cent, and make a good investment.
Since the war Duff Development has spent over £400,000 on replanting its Kelantan rubber estates and during 1960 as much as £80,000. This is a large item which may be difficult to provide from revenue in future, now that the price of rubber has fallen; but it does mean that 4,200 acres have been replanted during the past ten years out of a total cultivated area of 10,300 acres. The crop harvested was a record at 5,137,191 lb. as compared with 4,847,265, and produced a pre-tax profit of £152,807 against £142,162. The dividend is again 50 per cent. and the 5s. shares at 15s, 6d. look reasonably priced to yield over 15 per cent. as future costs do not appear likely to diminish.
Over the past fifteen years there has been a steady improvement in the net profits of Brixton Estate Ltd. For 1960 pre-tax profits rose from £223,237 to £270,354. The company owns factories, offices, garages and cottages, principally at Brixton, but also at Hatton Garden, High Holborn and Acton. Of these £2.47 million appear in the balance sheet as freeholds out of a total of £2.82 million as valued in 1958. There is an amount of £343,086 31 per cent, debenture outstanding, but there are no mortgages and last year the bank overdraft of £95,090 was reduced to £50,885. The chairman, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir .Francis Humphrys, is increasing the divi- dend from 10 per cent. to 12+ per cent, and once again is making a free scrip issue, this time one for seven shares. Shareholders should stick to their 5s. ordinary shares, which at 27s. yield 2.5 per cent., particularly as it is hoped to maintain the same rate of dividend on the increased capital.
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