LOVELL AND CHRISTMAS. LIMITED

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 34, 9 August 1933, Page 10

LOVELL AND CHRISTMAS. LIMITED

Referring to the report issued by Messrs. Lovell and Christmas,- "The Financial Times" (London) on July 4, observed that "the maintenance of past results by provision businesses -has been a far from easy task at a time of falling prices and diminished spending by customers. Such conditions have been intensified during the last twelve months, and it was scarcely to be expected that Lovell and Christmas could fully maintain the exceptionally sharp recovery in profits of "the previous year. Nevertheless, the results are not unsatisfactory and allow of a 3 per cent, dividend being .: paid -on the ordinary shares. Profits have come back from £136,500 to £93,200, but the decline in net profits is not quite so much owing to no charge haviug been made for directors' remuneration and no transfer to bonus and •benevolent fund. The issue of £300,000 of debenture stock during the year calls for a larger sum for interest and sinking fund, but the dividend is covered with a margin of £4660, which raises the undivided surplus to £105,900. The addition to the debenture debt wag made in order to find part of the bank overdraft, by means of which the company had obtained extra working capital. In the last five years the overdraft had averaged over half a million. At the date of the accounts it had been reduced to £204,600, or £238,700 less than last year."