NEW SHARE ISSUE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 21, 20 October 1937, Page 14

NEW SHARE ISSUE

Felt And Textiles Of Austr.

ONE FOR TWO AT PAR In a circular to shareholders regarding the issue of 1781)27 ordinary shares of £l. each to ordinary shareholders at par in the proportion of one for two, the directors of Felt and Textiles of Australia, Ltd., state that the reasons for the issue of more capital are as follows: — (a) General expansion of business; (b) (he establishment of new plants and a new business in India; (c) expansion of certain of its subsidiaries, requiring the addition of further plant: Cd) acquisition of other businesses. As a result of the investigations in India of Mr. A. J. Vale, one of the company’s directors, the board is of opinion that a modest investment of capital in that country will be of immediate benefit. . , Expansion in the .operations of the subsidiaries has necessitated the installation of additional plant. Three important sljpper companies have recently been purchased outright, and expansion is also taking place in the company’s slipper trade. The new shares* are payable either in full on application or 5/- a share on triplication, 5/- on April 1, 1938. 5/- on August 1, and 5/- on December 1. Applications will close on December 1, 1937, and transfer books close' on October 21. AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES Comparison Of Results A comparison of the results of 77 public companies which issued their accounts m April, May, or June of this year.is given in the current circular of the National Bank of Australasia. The table below shows that in the last three years net profits have increased from approximately £3.000.000 to approximately £4,500,000, while the percentage of profit to shareholders’ funds has increased from 5.2 to 6.7 :—

Grouping the 77 companies into 15 sections, the percentage results of the last three years afford the following comparison :-—

1935. 1936. 1937. Net profit (millions) • ■ £3 £3.6 £4.5 Dividends paid (millions) ..... £2.3 £2.8 £3.3 P.O. of profit to shareholders’ funds 5.2 5.7 6.7

Percentage of Pro lite per Annum to Shareholders’ Funds. Nd i. of Companies and. Section 1935 1936 1937 6 Agricultural and pastoral Breweries and hotels — Building and construction 6.8 4.7 7.9 6.2 9.6 9 6.5 6.8 7.6 4 Finance—(a) Banks .... 2.8 3.0 3.3 4.8 ib) Trustee ... 4.-* 4.7 s ic) Other 5.6 7.3 investment 6.5 4 Gas and electricity 6.3 6 Manfrg.—(a) Apparel ... 5.3 8.8 8.7 4 (b) Foodstuffs (c) Other .... 3.7. 0.9 6 8 ' 8.8 6 Miscellaneous 9.9 8.1 9.4 3 Printers and stationers . 6.9 9.1 £s 8.8 10.8 6 Tran-sport * b.o 5.3 6.1 5.0 3 Wholesale 4.5 5.2 5.2 5.7 6.7