FINANCE AND INVESTMENT
By CUSTOS FROM the City as well as the broader national standpoint, S Kingsley Wood's fourth Budget must be judged satisfactory. contains no surprises and is sound to the point of being dull, b that should not worry anybody in these days. Faced with t task of mopping up surplus spending power created by the expansi of the war effort, the Treasury has not merely 'chosen the line least resistance, but followed the most appropriate course in relyi for its extra Lioo,000,000 on indirect taxation of non-essentials. Whether this fresh turning of the screw will have any servo effects on consumption in the tobacco, brewery, cinema or I trades only time can show. If recent experience is any guide, ho ever, it seems probable that even the higher selling prices no coming into force will not make any appreciable difference dedand. That this is the view in Stock Exchange circles is appar from the behaviour of the market this week. Relief at the end the period of uncertainty which always precedes the Budget been followed by a rise in tobacco, brewery and cinema shares.
E.P.T. CONCESSIONS
There has also been some buying of Rhodesian copper _And W African tin mining shares on the strength of Sir Kingsley Wood references to fresh concessions to be given to concerns produci wasting assets. Just what form the proposed concession is to t• will not be disclosed until the Finance Bill is published, but seems that the official intention is to give relief to concerns whi have, as it were, " picked the eyes " of their properties, e.g., selective mining of high-grade ore so as to meet the Governmen request for larger output. If this is the case, then I cannot how the Rhodesian copper producers stand to gain, since th increase in output, although substantial, has not been achieved those lines. Moreover, this group has already succeeded in obtaini a fair measure of E.P.T. relief as a result of its discussions with Board of Referees under Section 13 of last year's Finance Act. ruling obtained was so favourable to the copper undertakings that shall be disappointed if the next accounts of the companies whi had suffered most through the incidence of E.P.T. do not show substantial improvement.
A CHEAP PREFERENCE SHARE After a recovery which followed the issue in January of the resul of the Bowater group of paper companies, the Li preference sha of the Edward Lloyd Investment Co. have slipped back to ios. At this level they look to me an attractive lock-up purchase capital appreciation. Arrears of dividend going back to April, 19 now amount to 20 per cent. gross, or 2S. net per share, and altho the process of clearing them off must necessarily be a long one, t long-term prospects are promising. Based on the recovery of Edwa Lloyd, Limited, one of the big operating units in the group, earning power of the trust, which holds Edward Lloyd ordin stock, should again be demonstrated in more normal conditions. fmances of the group are strong.
The fact that goods made of raw materials in short supply owing to war conditions are advertised in this journal should not be taken as an indication that they are necessarily available for export.
Previous page
