Nephew Wilde's Portfolio
Eastern promise
Mr Wotherspool
We tend to forget when looking at the British involvement in India the prime object was one of profit. Of course, later profit motive and that of duty and service became entwined. But it was whilst going round the other day on the British in India that I realised just how much wealth there was in the luxuries of the Orient, in spices. indego and camphor. Where did all this wealth go? Were the fortunes of men like Clive and Warren Hastings dissipated by their off'spring?
I was discussing these points the other day with my colleague, Graville-Jones whose father had been a director of a merchant trading firm. And as a result of his connections he was able to give me some entertaining details about the old India merchants. Surprisingly enough, many of them were Scottish based. One such was Yule, Catto which was founded by George Yule of Stonehaven in 1863. George's brother, Andrew, established Andrew Yule in Calcutta and under his nephew, Sir David, this company grew into one of the largest groups in India. The Yule family in the 1920's called in Mr T. S. Catto, later Lord Catto, with links
established with Morgan Grenfell, the merchant bankers. However, like other companies trading in India, the profits of Andrew Yule declined. It was thus two years ago that Yule, Catto merged with Malaya General, a rubber company which had been managed by Yule, Catto. Since that time the company has acquired a UK thermoplastic concern and Unicorn Finance and Development and has begun to be a very different creature.
The latest development which could well prove very important as far as Yule, Catto's growth is concerned is last month's appointment of Mr George Duncan to the post of chief executive. Duncan quit similar positions with Truman's and Watney's but there is good reason to believe his stake at Yule, Catto will be rather more permanent since he has an effective stake of 61 per cent in the company's equity. Finally, it should not be forgotten that Yale, Catto has 4 per cent stake in the merchant bank, Morgan Grenfell. The bank also holds 5.3 per cent of Yule, Catto. This looks an exciting investment in a company whose prospects, the chairman, Lord Catto says are" excellent ".
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