Evening star., 1952-01-17
ADVERTISEMENT.
<ER sIDDELEY GROUP LIMITED. LoND,
Mr.. It. @. NJ Sopwith Reviews U.K. Rearmament
Critical Position on Raw Materials
Satisfactory Financial Year
HasDker PI06 "Fines Fighting Aircraft in the World"

The 18th Annual General Meeting OF
HAWKER sIDDELEY GROUP LIMITED
pas held on January is in London
MR.. T. O. M soPWITH, CB.E (the chairman)
In the course OF his speech said:
The Accounts show that we have had salts
factory year, with an Increase in profits as COM
pared with l949I50 This Is due to expansion in
turnover, both in quantity and value, and am
pleased to report that export trade has continued
to play an Important part
We must, hosceDer give full recognition to the
fact that present-dGy trading is considerably
influenced by initiation and high taxation Tradi-
tional methods Of computing profits take ac-
count Of historical costs only. whereas industry
is faced with the economic reality of having to
replace at progressively increasing prices, assets
consumed in earning profits. The existing tax
alton code makes inadequate allowances for de-
probation and replacement Of capital assets;
insufficient margin is left for replacement and
indeed, expansion, Of trading stocks. The efforts
of the Federation Of British Industries in seek
ing to redress the anomalies OF our present tax
alton system are receiving our fullest support
These are vital matters In an industry such as
ours, particularly at the present time when the
problem of rearmament is paramount.
With these factors in mind, your Board has
felt it necessary to set aside from available
profits sum Of f1000,0O0 to Reserve for Re-
placement Of Fixed Assets and Development,
thereby increasing that Reserve to f3,750,000
In addition, we have set aside $780, 900 to other
Revenue Reserves, which brings those Reserves
up to E2,248,161.
A special feature in the Accounts is the in
crease in other Capital Reserves. This increase
is mainly attributable to amounts brought into
credit as the result Of granting licenses and sales
OF rights to manufacturers abroad Such re-
ceipts are direct result of our policy of keeping
to the forefront in all fields Of aeronautical re-
search and allied developments.
The profit figure Of f6s5 66l relating to prior
tracts some Of which 60 back over number of
years. These settlements have been made on a
more favourable basis than could have been
anticipated with reliance. Although there must,
Of necessity, always be such outstanding settle
ments in q business such as ours, the figures for
must not be assumed that adjustments Of this
magnitude, will arise in the future @e
The Accounts reflect the new capital structure
of the Group following the resolutions approved
at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on
the 28th June, 1851. The Ordinary Share Cap
ital which formerly consisted Of 5S22.350 SD.
shares is now represented by like number Of
fully paid 81 shares. The interim dividend
already paid together with the proposed final
dividend makes total dividend Of 10ao, less tax,
for. the year. This increased distribution rep
resents 2/-d. per share, less tax; last years
dividend Of 32h% % less tax, related to the SD.
shares and represented lT1ad. per share, less
tax. '44*r..~.-.- t.-t>.
I should like to conclude my review Of the
Report and Accounts by referring to the financial
implications Of the expansion programme. It's
effects will be increasingly felt During 1951/52
owing to the provision Of further Capital Assets
and the finance Of expanding production. This
applies to our Canadian company as well as to
our companies in this country. Private enter
prise is being called upon to finance sub.
stantial part Of the expansion programme and
our considerable financial resources will be fully
nyfey, a ~ NatiOna1
Defence. ~ 81 - ~..-st.,4. rssa -
GENERAL SURVEY ~. 2.
year ago we asked If the air power Of the G
Raj the Commonwealth and our Allies was
strong enough to preserve the security and
freedom Of our people. ,e-s ~ 49,
The answer then was NO. It is stiH NO.
Although our research and experimental proto-
types have led the world for years, the Raj.
is still flying with aeroplanes which are obsoles-
cent. - 4
In the haste Of disarmament and retrench-
ment, orders for the more modern aircraft were
not placed in time TO ensure that we could OUT
class potential enemy. We had the types; but
we did not have production orders for them.
Now we have some Of the orders required but
1t is indeed late in the day. -.
There are certain things which govern the
production Of aircraft and aero engines. First
is design and development. Second is man
power. Third rs raw materials. Fourth-ma-
chine tools. ~. -
But even when these four vital points are
under control, there is still the all-important
factor Of time-time that 1t takes to build aero
planes; time that must be measured not in days
or even months, but in years.
What is the position to-day as compared with
the war years? A modern fighter like the
Hawker P.1067 absorbs nearly three times as
much manpower as did its counterpart, the
Hurricane, In 1910. Manpower Is the key to
almost all our problems and we must beat the
Ae NfA fnxyo n ine
so We have started national advertising cam
paign-which many Of you viii have seen-to
attract labour to our factories. Under present
conditions, 1t Is an anomaly that apprentices
are conscripted for military service when they
have completed their training In our factories
and are beginning to be Of real value to US.
Deliveries Of materials such as Steel light
alloys, copper, brass and bronze take from three
to eight times as long to obtain. We must over
come the material shortage by eliminating
bottlenecks and stringently applying priorities.
Machine tools also are a harassing problem.
We have placed substantial orders for them in
this country, in America and on the Continent.
But in spite of all efforts deliveries are, in the
main; running late And we must get those
vital machine tools. say
In three Of our major works we are curtailing
our civil and commercial activities to consider
able extent in order to make manpower, space
and plant available for rearmament. There is
risk that we may lose ground In these COM
merclal fields put We 1eei that this step Is
necessary in the national interest.
AIRCRAFT
Many Of you were at Farnborough last
September and am sure that you must have
shared our pride when we introduced the new
Hawker fighter, the P1067. This aeroplane,
which has justly been acclaimed as the finest
fighting aircraft in the world" was ordered off
the drawing board by the Raj. and we are
now preparing for quantity production.
The P.1067's sister aeroplane. the Hawker Sea
Hawk naval jet fighter, is in production at
Kingston and first deliveries are being made
this month to the Royal Navy. Deliveries Of
the Hawker Sea Fury were made during the
year to the Royal Navy and to Australia and
Canada