PROFITS IN FUTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 2, 4 January 1937, Page 12

PROFITS IN FUTURE

STOCKS AND SHARES

ON LONDON EXCHANGE (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—copyright.) LONDON, January 2. With most City men still on holiday on. the strength of the handsome profits acquired during 1936, there has been little business passing on the London Stock Exchange. The markets are more reflective, asking whether 1937 will prove as generous as was the year just passed. The best opinion seems to be that the pace cannot be sustained, especially in.view of the recent rises in the prices of commodities which, however welcome to the holders of them, are not equally appreciated by industrialists. Investors in industrial stocks have now "to consider two important factors —output and profit margins. Capacity for further expansion in current output is limited in some industries, especially steel and engineering. Dearer raw materials and higher wages are bound to affect the profits of . those industries which cannot easily pass the higher costs on to the consumer. , Gilt-edged securities already are falling out of favour, but steep declines in; their prices are considered as unlikely.