Jewels in the crown

But which companies have reigned as long as Queen Elizabeth herself? To get an idea, I dug the 31 May 1952* issue out of the archives at the Guildhall Library (Investors Chronicle having, regrettably, long since 'lost' its own archive of back copies in one of its many office moves) and perused the 'London Prices and Yields' page looking for familiar names.

Given the creative destruction that's part and parcel of shareholder capitalism, there were a surprising number. Many more were recognisable as companies long since absorbed into others - the banking sector, for example, was home to Midland (now part of HSBC) and National Westminster (now part of Royal Bank of Scotland), among the insurers was Commercial Union (now part of Aviva), any of around a dozen engineers and aircraft manufacturers are now part of BAE Systems.

So, to simplify the exercise, I chose only those companies bearing the same name as they do today, and conducting largely the same business.

Note that the 2012 prices are not adjusted for inflation, and may not be directly comparable with the 1952 prices owing to changes in capital structures down the years.

British American Tobacco (BATS)

Price then: 421⁄32d (1.8625p); price now: 3,062p

Daily life in 1950s Britain was conducted amid a fog of cigarette smoke, and a fair part of it came from BAT's products. These days, it's virtually impossible to light up in any workplace, pub, restaurant or public building, but that's not stopped BAT from generating stellar returns. The keys have been targeting emerging markets, making canny acquisitions - and the fundamentally addictive nature of the product. Ethically-minded investors may blanch, but the shares have been a fantastic investment and their defensive merits mean we continue to recommend them today.

Antofagasta (ANTO)

Price then: 11/- (65p); price now: 1,054p

Back in 1952, this company was listed as a railway stock, courtesy of its ownership of the rail line that linked the port city of the same name to Bolivia. However, it was in 1952 that one Andronico Luksic acquired shares in a copper mining venture in the Atacama desert. His eponymous holding company took over Antofagasta in 1979, and by 1996 it was a pure-play mining operation – just in time for a huge boom in commodity prices. The first years of the new millennium saw new mega-mines open and a stream of special dividends paid to shareholders, along with fabulous share price performance. However, waning copper prices and diversification into utilities and highways have rather quelled our enthusiasm for the shares.

Prudential (PRU)

Price then: 317⁄8d (13.28p); price now: 690p

‘The man from the Pru' was alive and well and knocking on millions of doors in the 1950s. The war years had cemented the company's reputation as a national institution; it poured money into government-backed securities to help finance the war effort, and paid out millions in war claims that it was not obliged to honour. Its core values of good and fair customer service made it a giant, but by the end of the millennium the direct sales force was looking old-fashioned and expensive to run. Diversification into fund management, online banking and Asia held the key to the future - and, despite a big setback when it failed to buy AIA in 2010, we still think the group's shares are a buy today.

Barclays (BARC)

Price then: 39/9 (198.75p); price now: 183p

The 1950s was something of a golden era for the venerable Barclays - it was during that decade that it overtook Midland to become the UK's largest bank. It was also innovative, introducing computers to branch accounting, installing the first cash machines in the UK and launching the first credit card. The diversification into investment banking did not come until the 1980s - and Barclays Capital, as that division is now known, is the main driver of earnings these days. For us, that's a problem; however well run the bank is, such revenues are volatile and unpredictable, and regulatory headwinds in the wake of the financial crisis means the shares have fewer attractions these days.

Tate & Lyle (TATE)

Price then: 48/6 (242.5p); price now: 676p

"If they juggle with sugar, they'll juggle with your shopping basket", the cartoon character Mr Cube told shoppers in the early 1950s. Only just recovering from sugar rationing, Tate & Lyle feared that state ownership would be next. Having seen off that threat, the company - one of only two original constituents of the FT30 still around today - expanded aggressively, and ended up owning shipbuilding and automotive businesses. It has since refocused again, shedding commodity sugar operations in order to focus on higher-margin sweeteners and other food ingredients. The turnaround plan put in place by current chief executive Javed Ahmed is helping keep investors sweet, so we remain fans of the shares.

Rolls-Royce (RR.)

Price then: 54/- (270p); price now: 821p

Rolls-Royce did well out of the war - its Merlin engines powered the Lancaster, the Spitfire and the Mustang among many others, and its Avon turbojet was standard fare on the post-war Comet airliner. But jet engines were to prove its undoing – the vast development costs of the RB211 turbofan practically bankrupted the company, which was nationalised in 1971. Shorn of its car-making operation, it returned to the stock market in 1987. Since then, it's become something of a poster boy for British engineering. We like its strategy of focusing on service revenues and diversifying into marine turbines, and still rate the shares a buy.

Marks and Spencer (MKS)

Price then: 74/9 (373.75p); price now: 348p

As the austerity of 'make do and mend' faded into memory, the nation was in the mood for shopping - and Marks & Spencer was one of the key beneficiaries of the boom in consumption during the 1950s and 1960s - by 1960, the company had taken to extolling its exemplary 10-year profit growth record. Not until 1984 did the chairmanship of the company pass to someone outside the Marks and Sieff families. Expansion abroad and into financial services followed, but by the late 1990s the company had lost its way and only narrowly avoided being taken over by Philip Green in 2004. But, for all its travails the company remains a high street bellwether, and its shares are modestly rated.

Shell (RDSB)

Price then: 419⁄32d (1.91p); price now: 2,073p

Although petrol rationing in the UK finally ended in 1953, the decade was still a turbulent one for Shell. The US became a net importer of oil during the decade, as demand for cars soared and, while huge new hydrocarbon reserves were discovered in the Middle East, exploiting them proved tricky. The Suez crisis in 1956 was an early sign of how politicised oil supply was to become. It was during the 1950s that Shell's dual holding company structure was established; it was finally dismantled in 2005, after the reserves replacement scandal. Shell today is more upstream-focused, but its capacity to generate the cash to underpin generous dividends remains undimmed - so we still regard the shares as a core holding for income-seeking investors.

De La Rue (DLAR)

Price then: 11/6 (57.5p); price now: 1,007p

Even in the 1950s, De La Rue was one of the UK's most international companies, printing banknotes all over the world. But that didn't stop it going on an acquisition binge that turned it into a conglomerate. Over the years, it fended off Rank and Norton Opax takeover attempts, and shed its conglomerate baggage to once again focus on banknotes and cash handling. The chaotic departure of chief executive James Hussey in 2010 has taken the shine off what looks a decent business with good growth prospects, so we're neutral on the shares at the moment.

Unilever (ULVR)

Price then: 42/11⁄2 (210.625p); price now: 2,031

Until the second world war, the Anglo-Dutch group was largely an oils and fats producer. The 1950s saw it diversify aggressively - one of its first key deals was to acquire frozen foods group Bird's Eye - and it poured money into product research and the new science of marketing. By the late 1990s, the process was in reverse and the company was cutting down on its stable of brands to focus on key lines and opportunities in emerging markets. That approach, along with tight cost discipline, has served it well and we continue to rate the shares a buy for their steady but reliable growth and dividend.

FT30 then and now

*Her Majesty actually became queen in February 1952 upon the death of her father. We chose the 31 May issue because it is the equivalent issue in 1952 to this one.