H.—44

6

Gross Capital. ~ 1914. 1918. 1919. Company. £ £ £ A ... ... ... 41,551 62,138 57,406 B ... ... ... 17,912 13,374 18,877 C ... ... ... 119,870 115,523 111,804 D ... ... ... 50,725 82,918 90,616 E ... ... ... 67,575 86,120 90,784 F ... ... ... 45,464 55,445 65,445 G ... ... ... 307,685 438,327 505,953 II ... ... ... 696,321 886,200 1,091,938 I ... ... ... 188,704 187,043 201,699 Totals ... £1,535,807 £1,927,088 £2,234,522 It may be explained that the gross capital has been arrived at upon recognized principles by deducting from the total of the assets of the company (1) investments outside the business, and (2) the amount of Sundry Creditors' Account —sundry debtors, of course, being allowed to rank as an asset. For profit-ratio purposes (he net profits have been increased by the amount,of interest paid on the loans (both fixed and fluctuating), which have been allowed to rank as capital employed in the business. It should also be mentioned that the gross capital has been based upon book values, which in many cases are below actual present-day values. To that extent and for that reason the gross capital shown in the above statement is not necessarily the actual capital employed. In 1914 the capital paid in to the nine companies reviewed amounted to £1,171,590, and in 1919 to £1,373,460, showing an increase of £201,870. The gross capital increased from £1,535,807 to £2,234,522, an increase of £698,715. The reserves advanced from £158,795 to £407,167, an increase of £248,372 in five years. The following table shows for each company and for each of the years 1914, 1918, and 1919 (1) the sales, (2) gross profit, and (3) percentage of gross profit on sales: —

This table shows that a very substantial increase in sales has taken place since 1914. The total sales in that year were £1,569,490, as against £3,027,278 in 1918 and £3,028,746 in 1919. The increase for 191.9 over 1914 was £1,459,256. It, should not, be overlooked that these sales cover both locally produced and imported goods. Since it is impossible to make comparisons of the quantity of goods produced and sold from year to year, there is no evidence available which would reveal the extent to which increased prices have been the cause of the increased value of the total quantity of goods sold in recent years. The percentage of gross profit on sales has also increased to some extent since 1914. The average of the nine companies was —in 1914, 1947 per cent.; in 1918, 245 per cent. ; and in 1919, 2407 per cent. The table below, showing the totals and percentages, will be of interest : —

Company. Year. Sales. Gross Profit. Percentage. 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 £ 144,413 289,91.2 298,386 76,080 159,285 152,064 47,933 122,091 132,314 43,272 103,074 111,423 38,005 86,298 80,987 26,265 51,610 62,291 9,934 17,420 21,159 239,725 449,578 449,509 943,863 1,748,010 1,720,613 £ 29,281 60,452 59,911 21,723 56,185 52,561 11,538 38,746 46,325 9,724 23,383 31,463 6,949 25,313 24,097 5,457 14,329 17,885 931 5,337 6,666 64,182 122,828 114,487 155,845 396,154 375,666 / 20-1 20-8 20-3 28-5 35-2 34-5 24-1 31-7 35-0 22-5 22-7 28-2 18-3 29-3 29-7 20-8 27-7 28-7 9-4 30-6 31-5 26-8 27-3 25-5 16-5 22-7 21-8