Company Notes
THE chairman of Hoover Ltd., Mr. Herbert Hoover, points out in his report for 1961 that too much capacity pressed on a reduced market creates severe competition. This is apparent from the results.Though there were large expenses involved in launching the new Keymatic washing machine, heavy advertising and sales expenses are likely to continue and in fact smaller profit mar- gins will have to be accepted in the future. That being so, it may not be possible to look for a re- covery in profits this year. Pre-tax profits in 1960 were £6,372,873, and fell to £3,916,374 in 1961, leaving a net amount of £1,335,288 (against £3,165,668) for the ordinary dividend of 25 per cent., which has been reduced from the previous payment of 45 per cent. It is intended to estab- litt a factory in France which will eventually supply the European Common Market countries, now supplied from the UK; this will not help the British company. A large upswing in sales could, of course, lift profits, but all in all the prospects for the 5s. shares at 39s. yielding 3.2 per cent, does not seem to justify the present price.
That old-established company, The Proprietors of Hay's Wharf Ltd., have date well for the year ending September 30, 1961. The chairman, Sir Rupert de la Bere, Bt., reports that nearly every section of the group has been able to attract in- creased business. The group covers public wharves, suburban cold stores, inland bonded warehouses and bottling stores, and has re- cently formed Hay's Construction Co. for the future development of about four acres of land lying between Southwark Cathedral and the river. Last year's pre-tax profits of £543,743 in- cluded £130,942 pre-acquisition profits with six months' profits from Chambers' Wharf. The company has recently acquired the Agran Group, specialists in packaging, storage and dis- patch for the aircraft, motor-car and electrical industries, so it is reasonable to expect a sub- stantial increase in the company's income for the current year. The final dividend of 6 per cent. is declared on £3.47 million of ordinary capital; the 4 per cent. interim was paid on £2 million. It should be possible to increase the 11.8 per cent. cover for the 10 per cent. dividend this year, so that, looking ahead, the £1 shares at 48s. 9d. yielding 4.1 per cent. are not overvalued.
The Eastbourne Mutual Building Society in- creased the amount of investments received from depositors and shareholders by f1,518,729 (in- cluding £104,097 interest credited to accounts) and granted mortgages to the value of £1,405,631 during 1961. Total mortgage assets are now £7,780,986. It is notable that all the Society's in- vestments (088,082) have fixed redemption dates and that total assets have increased by '£402,369 to £8,944,471.
Previous page
