Financial Notes
ACTIVE INDUSTRIALS.
THE year on the Stock Exchange has commenced in cheerful fashion, even if we allow for the fact that there has been a slight reaction in British Funds and kindred stocks owing, no doubt, to the rather strong rise at the end of the year and the flotation of the large Australian Conversion Loan for £21,000,000. Home Railways have been somewhat dull on apprehensions with regard to the coal situation, but, curiously enough; Industrial shares, even those of Iron and Steel com- panies, have so far been unaffected, by these apprehensions and have risen appreciably. Nor have markets been dis- turbed by the continuance of the Italo-Abyssinian War.
BANKING PROFITS.
As was pretty generally anticipated in the City, the results of the banking year so far show that profits have been well maintained, and in some directions slightly increased. The full tale of the bank dividends has yet to be told, but I have little doubt that it will be a case of an all-round maintenance of dividends with some small increase in profits.
TRUST OF BANK SHARES.
One of the latest additions to the Fixed and Flexible Trust groups is that bearing the title of the Trust of Bank Shares. It has been created by the Trust of Insurance Shares, Limited, and the Trustees are the Equity and Law Life Assurance Society, the bankers being Barclays Bank Limited. It is a managed Trust, limited to the shares of forty leading banks and discount companies, and the Managers of the Trust are to have complete freedom within those limits to select investments in view of market conditions. With regard to those shares of banks carrying a liability, it is pointed out that the constitution of the Trust of Bank Shares relieves the investor of any anxiety on this score. The Trust Deed is. so constituted that the Trustees will, it is stated, at all times be in possession of assets which at, current realisable prices exceed by two and a half times the total liability on the shar6 comprised in the Trust. As usual in the case of the formation of a new Trust, a brochure is issued giving full details of the securities selected, and in the case of the Trust of Bank Shares this brochure can be obtained from the Registered Office at 29 Cornhill, E.C.
* * * * NEW CAPITAL ACTIVITY.
Unless there should be some quite unexpected unfavourable ,development such - as the fulfilment of the threatened `coal strike, I should expect the next few weeks to be character- ised by considerable activity in the matter of capital flotations. As regards issues of the trustee type, I think it may be found necessary not to mainfain the price of issue at too high a level if a good public response is to be counted upon. Given a continuance, however, of the activity in Industrial shares, I should expect that January might be marked by quite a number of new capital flotations by industrial concerns.
A. W, K.
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