FINANCIAL JOTTINGS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13231, 26 September 1908, Page 4

FINANCIAL JOTTINGS.

o j (niOM OT.-R OWN' CQimESim'DEYT.) LONDON. August 17. Tho well-known browing firm of j Messrs Guinness has had a sustained in- i creaso in profits and dividends over ' 22 years. On this occasion, however, a new development in capital arrangement giv.es additional interest to the Gunmen- report. Brewing profits tor the past year amounted to the prodigious sum of £-,-00,670, exceeding last year—tho previous best—by" £37,050. Excise duty took £1.027.290* an increase of £10,0-J0 over tho amount payable for 1903. By the reduction o;' mc rate of interest on tho debenture stock, and tho purchase for cancellation of close ou £300,000, the company has saved in interest nearly £30,000 during tho period under review. Out' of rue probes of ISAJ6-7, £170,000 was applied m writing down investments, and as no such operation is required ou this occasion, tiie allocation to reserve is increased from £200,000 to tho dividend, including the bonus, is raised 2 per cent, to LrT per cent., and still the sum of £'65,000 carried forward to next year is £6000' higher.' Keservc- . now aggregate £_,S/0,000, and tho directors propose to capitalise £2,500,000 of this, issuing to the stockholders now lully-paiu! shares, convertible into ordinary stock, in amounts equal to their present holding, thus doubling tho nominal .ordinary capital of tho company. Lipton's, Limited, contemplate new developments. Tho company is about to open a large lumber of popular tea-rooms in London. A number of shops have already been bought ■■ in Holborn and Oxford street, and it is tho intention of the authorities to enter tho popular catering business within a short time. Tnere is' plenty of room in London for more tea-rooms and places where light refreshment can be obtained, if they are well managed. Witness the growing success of Lyons's tea-rooms, which keep on increasing, displacing publichouses en their way. Messrs Lyons, by the bye, established a largo tea business some years ago, and this is now a flourishing concern. There is no reason why Messrs Lipton should not be equally success!ul when they go into tho catering trade. People are drinking less alcohol and more toa and other non-intoxicants, and if the Licensing Bill passes there will be somo fine corner sites vacant. Consul-General R. W. Mansfield, in a report on. the trad© of Canton in 1907, makes some interesting remarks on the awakening of China. The Cantonese, in his opinion, are vastly superior in intellect and practical ability to all the other natives of tho country, and aro, therefore, in tho van of the march of progress. At present the idea appeal's to be to get rid of the foreigner, as soon as possible and to become self-sufficing, but in this th« Celestial is a trifle too previous, for he ho has yet very much to learn. Protress, however, is visible in every irectiou, and the railways between Canton, Hankow, and . Kowloon will mean a great, development of business. Already there is a demand for laboursaving machinery which is well worth cultivating by English manufacturers, and in many other directions commercial energy would be amply rewarded. The Westernisation of China on the lines of Japan is, in fact, a very big thing, and it will be England's owii fault if she does not secure a good share of tho trado which it will create. The Directors of tho Tottenham anc Edmonton Gas Company have decider to introduce a system of profit-sharing for their employees, to whom the scheme was explained at a i meeting oi 500 or 600 of the officers and workmer last night. Tho bonus will vary r,it v the price of gas, and at tho present rate it will amount t to 90s per . £10C earned per* annum.