COMPANY NOTES
WALSALL CONDUITS has experienced an- other successful year in spite of a decline in export sales. The new Chairman, Mr. C. G. Maisey, who succeeds Mr. A. E. Read, who died suddenly in March, reports record profits for the year ending December 31, 1957. The company continues to expand and has opened a new depot at Milford Haven, where large developments are expected in the near future. Profits before tax were £712,122, against £663,709 for the previous year, with a substantial increase in the amount carried forward of £930,778 as against £742,750. The total amount required to satisfy preference and ordin- ary dividends is only £109,250. The directors have, in building up reserves, always been conservative in the distribution of dividends, but this year shareholders are rewarded by a total payment of 22+ per cent. against 20 per cent. The 4s. ordinary shares now around 14s. yield about 6+ per cent.
De La Rue have this year for the first time provided group results, but these do not clearly indicate, from the preliminary figures, the actual net profit. This appears to be £549,868. The ordinary dividend of 171 per cent. is maintained out of earnings of approximately 42 per cent. During the past year the company's interests in plastics (except those overseas) were transferred to Formica Limited in exchange for £2.8 million of its capital, American Cynamid taking up the bal- ance, i.e. 40 per cent., of the capital. This exchange will not make much difference to trading profits except, as the Chairman states, the saving of royalties—about £125,000 this year. The Chair- man's statement will have to enlighten share- holders on a lot of points before the outlook can be assessed. The 10s. ordinary shares are steady at 26s., yielding 6.7 per cent.
Ozalid. Last December the company made a `rights' issue of three for eight ordinary shares which brought in an amount of £432,500. Over the past three years' such issues, made on attractive terms, have raised nearly £1.5 million to finance
the company's profitable expansion programme. The latest improvement has been the extensions to the Loughton factory where eventually all the manufacturing, administration and research func- tions will be centralised. The parent company's profit increased from £320,125 to £384,672 and the net profit, after tax, from £142,087 to £179,238. This figure indicates a slowing-down of the rate of profit for the second half of 1957. The final dividend of 15 per cent., as forecast by the Chair- man six months ago, is payable on the increased capital. Demand for the company's photo-printing papers and copying equipment is on the increase. The 5s. 'A' ordinary shares at 23s. 3d. look a sound investment to yield 61 per cent.
Ellis and Goldstein, the manufacturers of ladies' coats and suits, has reported another satis- factory year's trading to November 30, 1957. The Chairman, Mr. S. Goldstein, states that the recent acquisition of Dereta' coats and 'Rembrandt' dresses (paid for out of accumulated profits) has contributed to the past year's success. Group profits for the first six months of this year are up, although bad weather is now making trading more difficult. For the past four years earnings on the ordinary capital (now £470,000) have exceeded 100 per cent.; the net profit for 1957 at £294,834 showed a very substantial increase over the previous year's figure of £120,906. Last year a 100 per cent. free-share bonus was made and a dividend of 35 per cent. is now declared on the doubled capital as against 40 per cent. paid for the past several years. The Is. ordinary shares at 4s. yield £8 15s. per cent.
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