Atlas & Earnings

In 1923 United States Co. began operations as a private investment trust with $40,000 capital.

In 1929, re-named Atlas Utilities Corp., it had $14,200,000 in assets and 461 common stockholders.

Last week Founder-President Floyd Bostwick Odium mailed to 46,000 stockholders a report revealing that their company, now simply Atlas Corp., was the largest investment trust in the U. S. with $121,000,000 in assets. Dearer to the hearts of the stockholders was the fact that in the process of gobbling up a score of other trusts during the past four years, President Odium had more than doubled the asset value of their shares. At the turn of the year Atlas stock had a net asset value of $11.02 a share, compared with $7.02 at the end of 1932, $5.05 at the end of 1929. Atlas hoarded its cash through Depression, waited until last spring to invest heavily. But most of the increase in the face of declining markets was the result of hard bargaining. President Odium had picked up the fallen comets of 1929 at less than their break-up value.*

Atlas publishes no income account. But last week these U. S. corporations did publish their 1933 earnings:

(000 omitted)

1933 1932

American Can $15,357 $10,957

American Locomotive 1,465(L) 4,589 (L)

Armstrong Cork 2,386 2,259(L)

Bon Ami 1,086 1,027

Colorado Fuel & Iron 2,389(L) 4,253(L)

Consolidated Gas (N. Y.) 48,553 57,305

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 2,993(L) 2,542(L)

General Foods 11,0007 10,343

Gold Dust 2,666 2,513

J. I. Case 2,093(L) 2,611 (L)

Lambert Co 2,229 3,763

Lehn & Fink 806 1,243

Libbey-Owens-Ford 4,200 295 (L)

Loose-Wiles Biscuit 1,679 1,322

Melville Shoe 1,355 721

Minneapolis-Moline 1,544(L) 3,O55(L)

National Leather 1,337 1,653(L)

National Tea 1,180 899

Penick & Ford 1,443 915

Pennsylvania R. R. 19,281/- ! 13,573

Public Service of New Jersey 26,706 27,478**

Public Service of Northern Illinois 2,711 4,648

Radio Corp 582(L) 1,133

U. S. Gypsum 1,738 1,599

*With such fallen comets as Pacific Eastern (formerly Goldman Sachs Trading Corp.), Blue Ridge Corp., Shenandoah Corp., etc., etc., President Odium had to take good assets with bad. Among Atlas subsidiaries (but not consolidated in the balance sheet) are Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co.; Alden Corp., which owns a closed furniture factory in Asheville, N. C., a vacant factory in Philadelphia and 17 vacant lots in Hoboken, N. J.; Palace Co., which owns an amusement park at Santa Monica, Calif.; Rewark Realty Corp., which owns the equity in a swank 52-acre Long Island estate; Red Banks Properties, Inc., which owns and operates a fruit ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif.

/-Preliminary

**Year ending Jan. 31.

L=loss

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