DUNLOP RUBBER CO.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1926, Page 18

DUNLOP RUBBER CO.

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST FACTOR. PROFITS EXCEED £3,000,000. As reported in these columns on May 31, the profits of the Duniop Rubber Co. for 1023 amounted lo £3,_00,000, the company earned .'ls per cent, on its capital,* r.iid paid 15 per cent, dividend to ordinary shareholders. Aocording to Sir Eric Geddes' speech ' at the annual nioeting on April 28, in Bpito of 1-r-o imports of cheap cycle; tyres ficm the Continent, the sales of. Duniop eye'e tyres had shown a very j substantial increase, and indicated a j growing preference of the cycling p'.ulic i lor a stacdard quality pxeduct. j Quite recently the company entered j tic 'in.d of manufacturing tyres for j aeroplanes, , ! In the spaie of three years t'e s-.ih-j of their golf ball had been trebled, while , the domantl lor t!:cir tennis ball was so: great fat t';ev had recently had to | danUe ti:eir output, and it was with J diHlculty they ce.uu" ii-.eet the demand. In fact," progress in almost every branch of nt'tivitv ft l. ; on:e and abroad, <le-1 niand exce'i din capacity, end :m outlook | brighter than e'.er— v.aa t'.ie burden oil ._-i r !".rU-'s address. j What criticism there was centred mainly upon the policy of the braid in I placing so much to reserve at lie ex- j pense of a higher rate of dividend, and to that Sir _ris replied that the vital j consideration of placing the company in j a thoroughly strong financial position overruled all others in the policy of th.boa rd. I The American Company. I He said the American Company, | despite the loss last year, was makin. i most satisfactory progress. By far the j irajeir portion of the lots was due to the j impossibility cf forecasting requirements ' so as to enable prudent advance pur- ' chases of rubber to be made, and the ; impossibility of refusing business, though v n remunerative, when it was oil'ered merely because they had not been able j to provide the rubber for it at favourable j prices./ The turnover of the company, during 1925 increased by 250 per cent., ] production of covers was quadrupled, and at one time almost equalled the' output of the Fort Duniop Factory or" the Home company. As regards the current year, the American Company, as, indeed, the whole European organisa-1 tion, was in a very favourable position , as regards raw rubber. With rubber ae'eounting last year for CO per cent, j of the manufacturing cost of a tyre, and I its price fluctuating violently, it had been essential for the board to keep I close watch on the rubber market. T-hey were well satisfied with the provision they had been able to make for 1020. The Rubber Plantations. The great importance they had always [ attached to the possession of rubber ] plautations had been emphasised during; the past year by the extraordinary condition of the rubber market. During the present year the whole of the 47.42'J j planted acres would be under production, and they had already commenced the clearing and planting of the whole of their cultivated reserve area of approximately'll,ooo acres. ''The policy for a manufacturing concern to attempt to control some of its raw materials has been questioned," proceeded Sir Erie. "The argument is that we are rubber manufacturers, not planters. Why own rubber estates? The answer is that with rubber prices fluctuating as they did in 1925 from l/4f to 4/8 per lb* in nine months, it is a fine stabilising agent to grow a proportion of your requirements yourself. The fluctuation' in rubber prices is the manufacturers' nightmare. Then, also, as by far the largest manufacturer in thcEmpire, we cannot afford to cut ourselves off from the co-operative development of the plantation with our factory in .scientific manufacture of latex into tyres or any other rubber goods."