From Railway Review 26/8/66.
'If you are a worker your pay is frozen. If you are an idle shareholder your pay is not frozen, although the increase may be held up a bit. If you run 4 company it is more than likely your profits will be rising. Some gestures are being made, of course. But when you are higher up on the scale you find it easier to restrain. For instance, Consolidated Trust have told shareholders that until the prices and incomes issue is clearer the previously recommended final deferred dividend of 16% - making 23% for the year - should be reduced to 124%, making 193% for the year, the same as last year.
The ‘News of the World! too is doing very well. In the half year pre-tax dividends rose from £1,000,000 in the same six months last year to £1,350,000 for the first six months of 1966. An unchanged first interin of Th will be paid in September and another interin will be paid before the end of the year. The St. Martins Property Corporation also proved successful in the year endins last Marche Incomes from rents rose by £764,849 to £3,560,449. The profit fell a bit due to higher taxation anc interest charges. But it was still £791,154 and dividend set at 18% Property investment went up by nearly£4M to overs £5 7Me-cece Another firm, Drake and Gorman, Seull, engineers had a wonderful year with a record profit before taxation of £430,838 - an increase of 18% over the year before. The report says that there will be a substantial rise in the profits of the Group for the current year inspite of the Selective Employment Tax, which will cost about £100,000 Payment of dividends, of course, is subject to some control like wages. But who cares if the profits are still rising, the value of shareheldings will not decline and higher dividends can be paid later. Delayed wage increases apparently are lost for ever. It doesn't seen right +o ne.