AUSTRALIAN IRON AND STEEL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 93, 17 October 1939, Page 12

AUSTRALIAN IRON AND STEEL

The decision of the directors of Australian Iron and Steel, Ltd., to declare a dividend on preference shares for the period of two years and a half up to November 1, 1937, accords with the promise made to shareholders in April, last. The chairman, Mr. H. G. Darling, then said: "Preference shareholders could rest assured that arrears would be paid as soon as the company^ cash position justified this payment. Should affairs continue as at present, there is every prospect of these arrears being reduced within the next . twelve months." The investing public's direct interest in Australian Iron and Steel, Ltd. is confined to the 1,000,000 preference'shares, but there is an indirect interest through Broken Hill Proprietary shares, as the Broken Hill Proprietary in December, 1935, acquired the whole of Australian Iron and Steel ordinary capital (2,700,007 fully-paid £1 shares) in exchange for 750,000 of its own £1 shares. An additional 2,000,000 ordinary shares was allotted to the B.H.P. Co. in May, 1938, ,?t par in liquidation of the major portion of advaftces made by it to Australian Iron and Steel. No ordinary dividends have been paid since the company's inception in 1927.