Reed Paper Products Offers Stock Units

Press, Volume C, Issue 29506, 6 May 1961, Page 15

Reed Paper Products Offers Stock Units

Reed Paper Products (Holdings), Ltd., Sydney, packing manufacturer, will offer 291,800 5s ordinary stock units for sale at 24s (Australian), plus brokerage of about 5d a unit. The sale represents a 15 per cent, holding by Reed (Australia) Pty., Ltd., in the issued capital , of £486,438 in 1,945,752 stock units of 5s each. Reed Paper Products resulted from the takeover last July of Paper Products (Holdings) Pty., Ltd., by Reed (Australia) Pty., Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of Albert E. Reed and Company, Ltd. England. Through its two operating companies, Reed Paper Products Pty., Ltd., and Reed Paper Pro-

ducts (Victoria) Pty. Ltd. the company manufactures containers, cartons, paper bags and playing cards. The present shareholding of Reed Paper Products (Holdings), Ltd. is held by Reed and Associates Pty. Ltd. (72 per cent.), the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Ltd. (8 per cent.), Edwards Dunlop and Company, Ltd. (5 per cent.), and Reed (Australia) Pty., Ltd. (15 per cent.). Earning Rate Consolidated net profit of Reed Paper Products and its subsidiaries for the year to June 30, 1960, was £181,657, from which a dividend of 20 per cent., absorbing £97,288, was paid. The earning rate to issued capital was 37.34 per cent. Correspondting profit for the half-year to December 31—a period in which the company is seasonally more profitable—was £115,293, or 23.7 per cent, on issued capital. The company paid a 15 per cent, interim dividend in March to avoid tax liability, but its final dividend for the year is expected to be 5 per cent., making 20 per cent, for the year.