VARIED ACTIVITIES

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 131, 6 June 1938, Page 12

VARIED ACTIVITIES

[ FATS, FISH, TEXTILES LEVER BROS. & UNILEVER LTD. Kow great the range and widespread the activities of that great English organisation of Lever Brothers and i Unilever Ltd. may be gathered from 1 the speech by Mr. F. D'Arcy Cooper, c chairman, at the annual meeting of the , company held in London on May 13, t The company has interests in the United States, Holland, France, Spain, . Italy, Germany and Austria, Africa, and the Far East as well as In Great * Britain and'tne British Dominions and Colonies. It is also interested in the Antarctic whaling industry. , The articles which it manufactures and trades in and in which its sub- 1 sidiary companies specialise or in which Lever Brothers and Unilever Ltd. are i interested include soap, margarine, ] cocoa, copra, ground nuts and palm oil, : whale oil, cattle cake and meal meat and sausages, ice cream, cheese, and con- \ densed milk, glycerine, paper and paper } board, sea fish, textiles such as artificial , silks and woollens. It has also an in- , terest in the Lipton tea business in the , United States. Ice cream engages the special attention of this great organisa- 1 tion. 1 "The latest category of food industry < in which we are interested," said the i chairman, "comprises ice cream. This > article is of growing importance, : chiefly in England, but also to a ] smaller extent in other countries. Our 1 companies now employ in this industry during the summer months about i 10,000 people, who sold well over ■ 11,000 tons of ice cream. Good weather J assisted greatly in reaching a sales \ value 34 per cent, in excess of that of ' the previous year." i Referring specifically to some of the ' company's activities, Mr. D'Arcy : Cooper said the sales of soap established a record by reaching a total tonnage of almost 850,000 tons. The greatest progress made in any particular country was in the United States of America, the British Empire being a good second. Increased tonnage was reached by some of the world-wide brands, and of two brands of toilet soaps the astonishing number of 632,000,000 tablets were sold. MARGARINE POPULAR. Margarine and edible fats were not in such a fortunate position. Their turnover was only just maintained, a decrease in the Central European countries being balanced by increases in the United States of America and the British Empire. In England a wellknown brand of margarine reached the highest tonnage ever sold of any brand of margarine in that country. In the United States the company's brand exceeded not only previous records, but also the figures budgeted for. As a coincidence Mr. D'Arcy Cooper mentioned that the value of sales of soap and of sales of margarine during the past year was exact-, ly the same—namely, £42,000,000 each. The seed crushing industry had another good year; so had the refining and hardening factories. Most of the factories in this group crush, refine, or harden raw materials destined for the margarine and soap factories, but their sales of oils and fats to outside customers came to 547,000 tons, a figure ' well above that of any previous year. Another record turnover was obtained , by cattle cake and meal. In 1936 they sold over 1,800,000 tons, and in 1937 ; 1,925,000 tons. WHALING INDUSTRY. : "We have purchased whale oil at i £12 per ton, a price well below the cost of production," said Mr. D'Arcy t Cooper. "Our Southern Whaling and Sealing Company, which had two fleets out in the Antarctic, has been working at a loss, but the catch' of four other fleets, under the German flag, is expected to be sold to the German Government at a fair econoiiiic price. In three of these fleets an interest of upwards of 50 per cent, is held; the fourth, called 'Unitas,' is ' wholly owned, but chartered to an operating group, of which our associated German margarine factories are members. The latter fleet is new and comprises the largest floating factory in the world, and catchers of the most [ modern design." > MEAT AND SAUSAGE SALES. A year ago the company extended its ■ interests in meat and sausage factories > in England and Holland. A further > increase of capacity had to be planned 3 towards the end of 1937, and work in t connection therewith was now almost 1 completed. The necessity for this step ; was clearly shown by the increase in 2 sales from 25,000 tons in 1936 to 48,000 I tons last year. The sales value increased by 77$ per cent., and profits in proportion. .... Increased profits were also obtained from cheese, condensed milk, and in- , fant food factories, record sales exceed- ; ing previous year's figures by 26i per I cent 3 DEEP-SEA FISHING. ; Sales of fish and poultry by the Company amounted to 150,000 tons, with a " sales value of almost £5,000,000, 4i per 5 cent, more than the previous year. > These figures did not include the turnj over of a very large fish concern "in. , which we are only interested to the extent of under 50 per cent. The '' trawling industry in the United Kingdom has had an unsatisfactory year. I believe that the industry, as a whole, has lost money. Certainly we have," said Mr. D'Arcy Cooper. "Other subsidiary companies are interested in the sale of canned or dried fish, fruit, and vegetables. Of these commodities 55,000 tons were sold, representing a turnover of almost £4,000,000, over 20 per cent, more than ; during 1936. 1 TEXTILE FACTORIES. r "In England, for several years, the r company had. had interests in some i small textile factories. Far more im- : portant interests in this industry had " now been taken up in Germany. The 1 utmost care was taken in the choice of businesses, and particular attention : was paid to the choice of managers for l them. These purchases were only y made when really suitable opportunil ties occurred, and then at prices which gave a good chance of yielding an " ample return on the money invested. 1 "Under these circumstances, we have ' become interested in a small number 2 of good factories manufacturing arti--3 ficial silk, woollens, and textiles of f various types," said the chairman. . "The sales from these factories have only been partly included in our combined trade figures, as several of them 1 have been working for our account 2 during only part of the year. All the * factories in this group have been 3 trading at a satisfactory profit. "Our shipping interests, in common i with shipping in general, had a good year. This applies both to our fleet on e the high seas and to those on Euro- '• pean and African rivers." The combined value of sales of the s company reached a record figure of h £190,000,000. Dividends were approved i as follows:—6 per cent, for the year o 1937 on ordinary stock (making with a dividend of 4 per cent, paid by Unil" lever Limited on December 1, 1937, a r dividend of 10 per cent, for the year n 1937), a dividend of 5 per cent, for the n year 1937 on preferential certificates = outstanding, and a of 6 per e cent, for the year 1937 on deferred „ stock of the company.

FRUIT PRICES FIRM.

(By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, June 4. The fruit market remains firm and the outlook for the coming week is favourable. Apples.—New Zealand, ex Brisbane Star, Granny Smiths, lis 9d to 13s 3d a case; Delicious, 9s 6d to lis 3d. Pear prices are higher under a good demand. As a result of representations made by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce through the Associated Chambers. electric vacuum cleaners, electric refrigerators, radio sets, and bicycles have been added to the Seventh Schedule of the Chattels Transfer Act,