Recent important developments in connexion with the great Swedish Match combine have caused considerable activity in the company's shares of late, says the circular of the British; Foreign and Colonial Oorporation. A mew American Company the International Match Corporation—has been formed recently with a nominal capital of $28,000,000, more than half of which is to' be held by the Swedish Match Company in consideration of its transferring to the new undertaking the major part of its interests in foreign match manufacturing concerns. The International Match Corporation, which has just issued $15,000,000 6} per cent. conver-tibia sinking fund gold debentures in America at 94} per cent., will employ the remainder of its capital in purchasing match manufacturing plaints in Canada and in various countries of South America and the Far East; it is also to acquire the entire capital stock of the Vulcan Match Company, which owns the agency for selling the products of the Swedish Match Company and its subsidiaries to distributors in the United States. Whilst number of important American bankers and merchants will be directors on the Board of the International Corporation, it will be controlled by the Swedish Match Company. The latter has hitherto ranked as the largest match undertaking in the world, its Swedish factories alone producing about one-fifth of the world's output and the company commanding over one-third of the world's total production. By means of the new organization the international combine will now secure effective control of something approaching a world monopoly of match manufacturing.
It is, of course, impossible at this stage to estimate the profits which will be obtained, but these appear likely to be very considerable, judging by the record of the Swedish Match Company, which has found it necessary during the past 12 years to increase its capital from 3,000,000 to 90,000,000 Swedish Crowns in order to cope with the tremendous expansion of its business; in the same period the net profits have increased from 1,169,000 Crowns for 1910 to 9,017,751 Crowns for 1922. The ordinary dividends during the period have ranged between 6 per cent, and 14 per cent., the distribution for each of the last two years having been at the rate of 12 per cent., whilst last year's profit represented over' 20 per cent. earned om the ordinary capital. It may be mentioned that the combined net assets of the International Match Conporation, the. Swedish Match Com-
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