LONDON FINANCIAL SENSATION

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 74, 20 December 1929, Page 7

LONDON FINANCIAL SENSATION

NEWSPAPER companies CONCERNED HEAVY INDEBTEDNESS ALLEGED (United Press Association.— By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright) (Rec. December 19. 9-40 n.m.) London, December 19. Still another city sensation of the first magnitude has arisen, says the “Dally Mail.” This time it concerns the Inveresk Paper Company, a' big group of allied companies, the “Daily Chronicle” Investment Corporation, also the United and Provincial Newspapers which were built up by the financier, William Harrison, of Inveresk. Th shares slumped heavily recently while to-day ordinaries recovered half a crown to 13/9. Shares once changed hands during the year at 67/6. The Inveresk board announces that although the estimated results have not been realised, the constituent companies’ profits continue to be satisfactory. Nevertheless stringent market conditions preclude the raising of further capital and it is essential to retain the' cash resources. Accordingly the board is postponing dividends for the first and second preferences for the half-year ending December 31, and the fullest information will be submitted to shareholders in the new year. The committee of the first cumulative preference holders has issued a circular alleging that the indebtedness of the Inveresk company and certainsubsidiaries to bankers exceeds two millions and a half. In the meantime Mr. William Harrison has resigned the chairmanship of various boards, and Mr. B. H. Binder, chartered accountant, becomes temporary chairman. Mr. Harrison, who is a solicitor, took newspaperland by surprise a few years ago, turning his attention to the paper-making industry, and thereafter negotiated a succession of newspaper deals in London and the provinces, many of these publications earning big profits.