Formation of New Companies.
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82
During the half-year to the 30th of June the formation of
commercial companies in Great Britain was actively maintained, and
a comparison with previous years hows that the stream of British
trading flows steadily on. It is true that there has been some
decline from the high level of company formation in 1936, but this
is not a matter for undue regret, representing as it does the
absence of more speculative ventures. The general conditions of
world trade have daturally not encouraged such ventures.
The total number of private companies incorporated in Great
Britain in January-June, 1939, was 6,513, with an aggregate capital
of £24,651,000, while in the same period 104 public companies were
incorporated, their aggregate capital being £5,500,000. Compared
with January-June, 1938, these totals represent a decrease of £5%
millions in the case of private ventures, but an increase of £31
millions in registrations of public companies. It is a sign of the
satisfactory economic situation of the country that there has been
an increase this year in the number of companies formed to deal
in articles of primary consumption such as boots, clothing and
textiles. The number of engineering and aviation concerns
registered was also greater. The new companies registered during
the present half-year, from January to June, embrace no less than
48 different groups of British commercial enterprise, the most
important being land and buildings, engineering, investment, food,
shipping, clothing; textiles, building, merchanting, chemicals,
electricity, gas and water concerns, and motor manufacture.