Imperial Chemical Industries

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27384, 9 May 1950, Page 9

Imperial Chemical Industries

After providing £4,500,000 for obsolesencce and depreciation, group profits for Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., London, before taxation, show a decline of 17£ per cent, to £17,232,509. Provision for United Kingdom and overseas taxation is £6,496.828, compared with £11,058,523 in the previous year, and interest of minority members of subsidiaries has risen from £401,872 tp £480,201. The group profit attributable to ICI stockholders is £10.346,280—a decline of £1,148,704.

Ordinary dividend is maintained a't 10 per cent., and, together with the preference dividend, requires a total of £4.257,689. The board has made a direct appropriation to reserve for future income tax of £2,215,000 and a special addition appropriation of £1,500,000 is made for central obsolecence and depreciation reserve. Capital reserve is increased by £500,000, and £1,000,000 is added to revenue reserve. Carry-forward is increased by £320,000 to £4,328,249. Commenting on the balance sheet figures, the financial editor of The Times says that a contraction of 17£ per cent in' the gross earnings of such an industrial giant is an affair of some moment, and indicates clearly that the sellers’ market in chemicals is a thing of the past.