Secretarial practice

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1828236004

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-249926

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Secretarial practice

Edition:: fourth edition

Place of publication:: Cambridge

Publisher:: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd

Year of publication:: 1930

Scope:: viii, 987 Seiten

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter XVII. Dividents

Collection:: Economics Books

DIVIDENDS 18, 16 Ch. D. 344; Lambert v. Neuchatel Asphalte Co. (1882), 51 L.J. Ch. 882], and varies with the class of business carried on. The question whether a company has profits available for distribution must be answered according to the circum- stances of each particular case, the nature of the company, and the evidence of competent witnesses [Bond v. Barrow Hematite Co. (1902), I Ch. 353]. The following are some general principles extracted from the more important cases on the subject: 1. The ‘fixed capital’ of a company need not be maintained Fixed and out of revenue, but the ‘circulating capital’ must be made Piroildimg . 2 : pital. good before dividends are paid. Fixed capital is used to denote that portion of the com- pany’s assets which consists of investments of a more or less permanent form, such as land, buildings, plant, or securities purchased for the sake of the income they produce. Circulating capital, on the other hand, consists of that portion of the company’s assets which is used for ‘turnover’ purposes. Incidentally it may be income-bearing while retained, e.g. shares in a dividend-paying mine bought as a speculation, but intended to be used as stock-in-trade, and to bring profit to the company by being sold [Verner v. General and Commercial Trust (1894), 2 Ch. 239]. For a judicial explanation of the nature of fixed and floating capital, see Ammonia Soda Co. v. Chamberlain (1018), r Ch. 266, per Swinfen Eady, L.J., at pp. 286, 287. 2. If the objects of a company include the investment of capital in wasting property, depreciation by waste need not necessarily appear in the revenue account, but may, if the regulations so provide, be dealt with in the capital account “Lee v. Neuchatel Asphalte Co. (1889), 41 Ch. D. 1]. Where a company’s business is to acquire a wasting pro- perty, e.g. a coal mine under a lease for years, and making a profit by working it, the diminution of the property is a gradual consumption of the capital, and it is for the share- holders to decide whether they will have a sinking fund to meet the waste [Verner v. General and Commercial Trust 1894), 2 Ch. 239]. 3. A company may set off an appreciation in the value of its capital assets, as ascertained bv a bond fide valuation, against losses on revenue account [Ammonia Soda Co. v. Chamberlain (1918), 1 Ch. 266]. Commercially, however, the greatest caution should be exercised in distributing dividends on the basis of a valuation showing an appreciation. [n particular the valuation should have been obtained from

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: Secretarial practice

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation