COMPANY AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 145, 21 June 1926, Page 4

COMPANY AFFAIRS.

LEVER BROS,. LTD

ASSETS IMPRESSIVE

At the annual meeting of shareholders In Lever Bros. Ltd., held at Port Sunlight, on April '22, the chairman, Mr. Alfred Cooper, supplied the following particulars concerning the position of the company : —

"Lever Brothers, Ltd., represents a community, or, I will prefer to call it, a commonwealth of some 200 companies, mainly interested in soap and its allied trades, is producing the raw materials with which chose articles are manufactured and. In addition, we are very largely interested in the margarine, fish and canning businesses of this country.

•"We employ, so far as I can ascertain, a staff of 39,000 whites and some 25,000 natives.

"The total sales of commodities in 1923 of the parent company and its associated companies amounted in cash to upwards of £51.000.000 sterling. "Our debenture-holders and shareholders tosetlier number approximately 200,000, representing an average holdin? of £320 per head, and practically all these investors reside in the British Isles. We own in various parts of the world some 6* million acres of freehold land and about 2J million acres of leasehold land, and we have in charge of our interests in various parts of the world approximately 1000 directors and senior managers. GORDON AND GOTCH. LTD. Gordon and Gotch (Australasia), Ltd., in its halt-yearly report covering the period ended March 31, shows a profit, atter providing- for income tax, or £39,913. compared with £38,209 the previous half-year, and £45,215 the corresponding , hair-year of .\ dividend of per cent per annum on preference shares absorbs £4030, or eight per cent per annum on ordinary shares £16,000. a sum of £19,000 is carried to reserve, and £9iS Is carried forward, against £725 "broug-ht into the account. SWIFT AND CO. Aocorriiny to the annual report or Swirt and Co., the big meat canning: firm of Cliicas-o. the company's sales for 1925 at £l7o,0(rD,000 represented mc largest turnover or any year since the war period. ?uch a result was obtained in the face ot big-her prices of live-stock than prevailed at any time since 1920. Net earnings for the year were £3,080.000, or 10 J per cent on capital, 7 per cent on stockholders' investment, and 1J per cent on sales. Dividends amounted to £-2.400,000, and, by adding- the undivided profit to Hip accumulated surplus that fund was increased to £14.000,000. The balance-sheet total amounts to over £68,400,000. Capital stands at £30,000.000. and bonds and gold notes issued total £15,000.000. •