The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-22 00:00:00

C.A_LEDONIAN.

The report of the directors states that the amount
available for dividend was £305,857, including
£4,035 from the preceding half-year. The divi-
dends on preference shares amounted to £98,887,
leaving £206,969, out of which the directors recom-
mend a dividend on the ordinary stock at the rate
of 61 per cent. per annum (lees dividend on that
portion of the stock chargeable against the premium
account), £121,649, on the Scottish Central Stock,
at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum, -v38,956 ;
on the Aberdeen ordinary stock, at the rate of 3
per cent. per annum, £12,450 ; on the Scottish
Midland ordinary stock, at the rate of 6 per cent.
per annum, £lB,OOO ; and on the Dundee and Ar-
broath ordinary stock, at the rate of £9 100.
per cent. per annum, £9,094 ; leaving a surplus of
£6,775. The revenue of the company amounted to
£850,018, the working expenses to £342,282, leav-
ing a balance of £507,736. As compared with the
revenues of the united undertaking for the corre-
sponding period of last year there was a deficiency
of £8,723. The receipts on account of passengers
had increased ; but the improvement in this branch
had been more than counterbalanced by the falling
off in the merchandise and mineral traffic, owing
principally to the protracted depression in the iron
trade and to miners' strikes. To meet the amount
which the company had to pay on account of the
adverse decision of the Vice-Chancellor in.regard to

the division of English and Scotch traffic of former
years, the directors had for some months deducted
£2OO per week from the traffic, and it was proposed
to continue this rate of deduction until the balance
(£27,288) was extinguished. The county and parish
rate had increased under the operation of the Lands
.Valuat. on (Scotland), and the local acts depending
upon it for their basis .of assessment. The Parlia-
mentary expenses of last Session were unusually
large, and the directors believed they were justified
in charging a portion only against the revenue of
this half-year, leaving two-thirds to be borne by
the accounts of succeeding half-years, in which
there was good reason to hope that those expenses
would be comparatively small. Notwithstanding
the extraordinrry state of the money-market during
the greater part of the half-year, the company had
been able to obtain loans exceeding £400,000 on
reasonable terms, 4i per cent. being the highest rate
given. The average rate on the outstanding mort-
gage debt was £4 3s. 4id. per cent. By agreement
with the North British Company the field of
Parliamentary contest in the present session had
been greatly narrowed. The agreement of February,
1866,Iintended to admit of fair competition between
certain points common to both companies, had been
but imperfectly observed, and a large amount of
traffic bad been carried at unreasonably low rates.
The directors hoped, however, that better relations
for the permanent advantage of both undertakings
might yet be established. The expenditure of
capital during the half-year amounted to £614,791.
The bridges and other works on the Scottish North-
Eastern line would involve considerable outlay, and
the cost was considered in estimating the value of
the line to the Caledonian, and the expenditure
would be spread over a series of years. The
capital account showed that £19,424,488 had been
expended. The revenue account for the half-year
ending the 31st Jan. showed that £860,369 had
been received from all sources, and £369,541 ex-
pended, leaving a balance of £490,828.