Earnings

The 1928 financial statements of corporations prominent in many U. S. industries last week furnished statistical evidence of general U. S. prosperity.

Railroads. Though passenger traffic on Class I railroads (184 main trunk lines) was the smallest in the last 20 years, freight traffic increased 1/2 to 1% and by cutting operating expenses most roads showed larger earnings per share in spite of many decreases in gross income. These roads reported net operating income of approximately $1,200,000,000, a return of 4.71% on their property investment. The 1927 return was 4.38%. The following table (from Dow, Jones & Co.) gives 1928 and 1927 surplus after charges and earnings per share of the following roads: 1928 1927 Baltimore & Ohio 28.9 12.35 22.6 9.42 Chesapeake & Ohio 28.7 24.29 28.6 24.19 Erie 10.0 4.93 .5 .63 N. Y. Central 50.3 10.85 58.5 13.90 Nickel Plate 0.3 12.51 6.0 15.41 Pennsylvania 82.5 7.34 68.1 6.82 Illinois Central 13.2 8.96 12.1 8.13 Great Northern 24.7 9.95 22.9 9.23 Northern Pacific 21.1 8.52 18.5 7.7 Santa Fe 49.7 18.00 49.7 18.73 Southern Pacific 40.911.00 36.0 9.66 Union Pacific 44.8 18.40 39.6 16.05 Missouri Pacific 9.5 7.15 4.4 .98

Steel. The automotive industry during 1928 became steel's best customer, with building second and railroads third. The following table shows 1928 and 1927 figures for six representative steel companies.

Net Profit (in millions) arned per Share

1928 1927 1928 1927 Jones & Laughlin 15.5 11.2 $19.99 $12.40 Republic Steel 4.7 5.4 4.22 U. S. Steel 1 14.0 12.47 8.80 Inland Steel 9.3 7.63 5.16 Bethlehem Steel 18.5 6.52 5.02 Crucible Steel 5.6 7.06 7.03

Entertainment. Cheers for the cinema, tears for the legitimate theatres were indicated in reports from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corp., Paramount-Famous Players-Lasky Corp., and Shubert theatres. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (common stock owned by Loew's Inc.) earned a net of almost $5,400,000 or $31.21 a share against a net of about $3,000,000 or $16.68 a share in 1927. Paramount reported a record net of $8,700,000, an increase of $650,000 over 1927. The Shubert report showed a $470,822 profit for six months ending Dec. 31, 1928, as compared to $630,626 for corresponding period in 1927.