asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies have been given consent to declare dividends in excess of the statutory limits in each of the past five years; what were the reasons for the consents; and what were the amounts involved.
The information requested is set out in the table below using the same form as that given for the four-year period ended December 1977 in answer to a similar Question from my hon. Friend on 9th January 1978—[Vol. 941, c. 624.] The opportunity has been taken to include some small revisions.In addition, a number of other companies—mainly on the occasion of raising new money for investment—were told by the Treasury in 1978 that consent would be given subject to certain conditions when they came to declare their dividends, but the consents will fall in 1979.Over the whole period, the Treasury has given release from the controls to 54 companies on the grounds that their operations are almost wholly overseas, under provisions first introduced by the Treasury announcement of 20th October 1975.The total number of companies involved is lower than the total number of consents given, as some companies have had more than one consent since 1st April 1973.The amount of total United Kingdom dividends for 1978 given in the table is not yet final.
| 1973(9months) | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | Total
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Percentage of aggregate
| Percentage of aggregate
| Percentage of aggregate
| Percentage of aggregate
| Percentage of aggregate
| Percentage of aggregate
| Percentage of aggregate
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Number
| increase
| Number
| increase
| Number
| increase
| Number
| increase
| Number
| increase
| Number
| increase
| Number
| increase
| |
Ground set out in Section III of Cmnd. 5444—paragraphs 13–20
| ||||||||||||||
| Takeover defence | 5 | 7·7 | 12 | 3·3 | 3 | 4·0 | 4 | 1·4 | 14 | 7·9 | 7 | 2·7 | 45 | 4·3 |
| Consequential adjustments for increases in share capital e.g. conversion of stock | 50 | 5·9 | 26 | 10·7 | 18 | 8·6 | 29 | 6·2 | 25 | 6·3 | 6 | 0·3 | 154 | 4·8 |
| Recoveries | 237 | 54·4 | 216 | 53·4 | 127 | 61·6 | 170 | 45·9 | 148 | 30·6 | 112 | 10·2 | 1,010 | 32·4 |
| No previous dividend declaration | Nil | — | 3 | 1·5 | 1 | 0·7 | 3 | 0·1 | 2 | — | 1 | 0·1 | 10 | 0·3 |
| Reconstructions etc | 9 | 2·4 | 18 | 12·7 | 8 | 4·6 | 4 | 0·4 | 3 | 1·7 | 5 | 2·5 | 47 | 3·3 |
| Pre-1972 commitment | 39 | 21·5 | 5 | 7·9 | Nil | — | 1 | 0·1 | Nil | — | Nil | — | 45 | 2·7 |
| Other dividend forecasts, all associated with raising new money for investments, mainly rights issues | Nil | — | 16 | 9·3 | 15 | 18·2 | 99 | 45·3 | 74 | 53·5 | 95 | 77·7 | 299 | 49·0 |
| Minority shareholdings | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — |
Other grounds not given as example in paragraphs 13–20 of Cmnd 5444
| ||||||||||||||
| Anomalies and technicalities arisingfrom changes in ACT, the permitted rate of increase and other rules of the controls | 10 | 9 | 2 | 5 | Nil | Nil | 26 | |||||||
| Consents to meet provisions of other legislation | 2 | 8·1 | Nil | 1·2 | Nil | 2·3 | Nil | 0·6 | Nil | — | Nil | — | 2 | 1·0 |
| Consents to declare but not to pay above the limit | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||
| Cover provisions | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | Nil | — | 15 | 6·5 | 15 | 2·2 |
| 353 | 100 | 307 | 100 | 175 | 100 | 316 | 100 | 267 | 100 | 242 | 100 | 1,660 | 100 | |
| (a) Excess dividends allowed (£000's) | 19,011 | 25,900 | 10,640 | 36,526 | 50,819 | 75,003 | 217,899 | |||||||
| (b) Total United Kingdom dividends (£000's) | 1,360,000 | 1,746,000 | 1,906,000 | 2,151,000 | 2.612,000 | 2,703,000 | 12,478,000 | |||||||
| (a) as a percentage of (b) | 1·40 | 1·48 | 0·56 | 1·70 | 1·95 | 2·77 | 1·75 | |||||||