The Doomsday Book

In a London hall last week a group of angry investors bitterly chanted Handel's "Dead March" from Saul, and an accountant rose to read solemnly from a 75-page report. It was the Doomsday Book of Rolls Razor Ltd., the base of John Bloom's washing-machine empire --and it contained some shockers. Britons knew that Bloom had fallen badly, but no one had guessed quite how badly. Citing examples of incredibly slovenly bookkeeping, the report revealed that Rolls Razor, whose assets in bankruptcy are only $2,100,000, is in the hole to creditors for $11 million.

Rolls stock, which had been priced as high as $6.44 per share only last November, hit bottom at the news: there were no takers at a penny a share. Rolls stockholders were not the only victims of disaster. Such creditors as Tallent Engineering ($2,400,000), Pressed Steel Co. ($1,200,000), and Hawker Siddeley ($151,000, for a company plane) have virtually no chance of recovering their claims. There was even the question of how housewives would be able to get guaranteed repair service on John Bloom's washing machines. Shocked into action, the London Stock Exchange last week asked its member companies for more frequent and more thorough financial statements.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.