HC Deb 23 January 1970 vol 794 cc209-10W
Mr. Mikardo

asked the the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list, as at 1st January, 1970, the companies in which the Government has a shareholding, stating the value and number of shares held in each case.

Mr. William Rodgers

Following is the information:

Nominal Value*
Description of Holding £
British Petroleum Co. Ltd.
£1 Ordinary Stock 174,461,538
£1 8 per cent Cumulative First Preference Stock 1,000
Beagle Aircraft Ltd.
£1 Ordinary Shares 1,000,000
British Sugar Corporation Ltd.
£1 Ordinary Shares 1,125,000
Cable and Wireless Ltd.
£1 Shares 30,000,000
Cunard Steamship Co. Ltd.
£20 Ordinary Stock† 66
Compagnie Financiere de Suez F.F.
F.F. 100 Capital Shares 64,559,100
International Computers Ltd. £
£1 "C" Ordinary Shares 3,500,000
Itabira Iron Ore Co. Ltd. (in liquidation)
£1 First Preference Shares 61,220
£1 Second Preference Shares 380,000
£1 Ordinary Shares 493,982
S.B. (Realisations) Ltd.‡
581,302 5s. Ordinary Shares 145,326
250,000 5s. "A" Ordinary Shares 62,500
5 per cent Redeemable Cumulative £1 Preference Stock 42,050
Toplis and Harding (Middle East) Ltd. 998 10s. Shares 499
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd.
£1 Ordinary Shares 875,000
7 per cent Unsecured Loan Stock 1975§ 940,000

Following are the figures for October, 1968, the latest date for which they are available:

Power Jets (R & D) Ltd.
£1 Ordinary Shares 200,000
* Where a share has a nominal value of £1, the number of shares is the same as the nominal value of the shareholding.
† Transferable in units of £1.
‡ S.B. (Realisations) Ltd. is the holding company for the Government's share in Short Brothers and Harland.
§ This Loan stock is in Fairfields (Glasgow) Ltd. which is a wholly owned non-operative subsidiary of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd., who guarantee the loan.

This table shows shareholdings held directly by Government Departments except for a number of small groups of shares held mainly by Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in mixed agricultural enterprises such as agricultural co-operatives. The total nominal value of these shares is very small.