I.C.I. DIVIDEND POLICY
The more one examines the position of Imperial Chemical Industries the clearer it becomes that this is a company which, having arrived in the industrial sense, is now deter- mined to dig itself in financially. In its own industry the I.C.I. occupies a dominant position ; its earning power there- fore depends less on competition than on those general fluctuations which are associated with the trade cycle. Hence the board's aim is to build up such reserves as will enable the company "to maintain a steady dividend policy lying within narrow limits in good and bad years alike." Lord McGowan left no room for doubt on this score at the annual meeting, although naturally he did not attempt to define "narrow limits " in this context. I think the market is right, however, in assuming that for the time being the dividend rate is not likely to move more than i per cent. on either side of the current rate of 8 per cent (Continued on page 882) FINANCE AND INVESTMENT (Continued from page 880) As for this year's prospects, stockholders will welcome Lord McGowan's intimation that so far the board has been "more than satisfied" with the volume of business done. He repeated the warning, however, that although the ex- plosives and metals section benefited directly and indirectly from the Defence programme, the direct participation of the group as a whole in Defence work represented only a small percentage of its trade. It seems likely, therefore, that given a reasonable political environment, Imperial Chemical Industries will achieve a moderate recovery in earnings in 1939. At 30s. 3d. the Li ordinary units yield just over 5/ per cent. I see no reason to alter my view that they are a respectable but not an exciting industrial investment.
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