BRITAIN’S TRADE FIGURES.

Evening Star, Issue 21622, 18 January 1934, Page 8

BRITAIN’S TRADE FIGURES.

Some interesting details of the basis for the claim of Britain’s progress to trade recovery have recently become available. It seems that the upward movement began in the middle of 1932, but was checked by the re-emergence of the American debt problem at the end of that year. Latterly Britain has been making America token payments only, and it may have been noticed that in the Budget presented to Congress by the United States Admini-tration a few weeks ago war debt payments from abroad were written off, though it was explained that this was not to be taken as indicating that all hopes of ultimate recovery of some of them had been abandoned. It is, however, evident that respite from the strain involved in making these heavy payments abroad has contributed towards the recuperative power of British industry. Stock Exchange movements of industrial shares are a fair index to the extent of the upward trend. The Institute of Actuaries computes that industrial ordinary shares have risen by 20 per cent, during 1933. There are, of course, exceptions to the general rule of an improvement in the ratio of profits to capital employed. Among the two most depressed industries are shipping and rubber, the former showing a loss of 2.5 per cent, and the latter of 1.1 per cent. The industries showing the highest profit ratio arc soap-making at 10.9 per cent., brew-

ing at 10.8 per cent., and electrical power and supply at 8.1 per cent. The wool textile industry returned 7.4 per cent, as against 2.4 per cent, two years previously, and the cotton textile industry, at 5.5 per cent., showed a considerable improvement on the previous year, though its profit ratio was only just half of what it had been three years previously. One of the most interesting sets of statistics furnished shows the strength of the reserves built up in more prosperous times. In some industries, notably the engineering, iron, steel, and. coal, the earned profits fell far short of the dividends paid out. This policy of a more or less moderate over-distribution to shareholders is taken as evidence that the depression in the industries concerned is deemed to be only temporary. Necessarily the exhaustive compilation of statistics does not cover recent months during which trade revival has been more pronounced, and figures available a year hence, covering the present period of better trade, are confidently expected to make better reading for shareholders.