MONEY MATTERS
Page 47
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Dennis Bros. Gloom
THERE was unpleasant pre-Christmas news for the 1 shareholders of DENNIS BROS. For the year that ended on September 30 last this well-known company incurred a group loss, pre-tax, of £92 573. This compares with a profit of £69 526 previously.
Not unnaturally there is to be no final dividend. A maintained interim distribution of -5% has already been paid. A year ago this was followed by a final payment amounting to 7%. This shock news caused the price of these shares to nose-dive to 16s. 3d., but they partially rallied and steadied at around 17s.—a net loss of 2s. 9d.
At the annual meeting at Birmingham—a meeting that lasted only about 12 minutes—the chairman of BRITISH MOTOR CORPORATION (Sir George Harriman) informed his fellow-members that competition was getting keener, particularly European competition. Nevertheless, he was able to tell them: "We are confident that there is nothing in the coming year that will prevent us from achieving our aims provided we all pull together."
Those shareholders who expected him to make a comment on the recent merger with Pressed Steel were not 'disappointed. He described the operation as "virtually complete ", adding: "We can now arrange our affairs so that the maximum benefit may be obtained not only for the Corporation, but for the whole of the British motor industry.'
ROSS GROUP reported a substantial increase in net profits for the year that ended on September 30 last. These amounted to £2 084 000 and compared with £1 677 000 in respect of the previous year. The proposed payment of a second interim dividend of 76°/a effectively maintains the year's total at 12%, as forecast.
These 5s. Ordinary shares at around their current price of 9s. 4I-d. yield 6.1% based on the latest dividend. During the past year the price has fluctuated between the conmaratively narrow limits of Ss. 3d. and 9s. 9d. My opinion is that they should be held for further growth.
Martin younger