Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-04-02
EARNINGS OF UNION PACIFIC
Thirty-Fivs MllliOn Dollars Bet fOr Current
Fiscal Yeas.
TN PER CENT DIVIDEND Will NOT Bt CUT
guoh a. ne Predioti0n 81 Hlgh wall
Street Authority vita Its
Finger on the Btnaa-
otaI Fu1so.

A few days ego The Bee printed figures
quoted By high wall street authority 70
show that the Burlington's gross earnings
for the current fiscal year at the present
ratio would be Ss0OOO.OOO. That same au-
thority says, from present indications, with
three-fourths Of the fiscal year gone. the
Union Pacific ought 20 have gross earn
ings OF Ss.oCo,oOO or STA,oOOOo0 with net
earnings OF not less than SS6.Ooo,Ooo Ao-
cordinE TO its estimate, this authority says
the Union Pacific should show real sur
Plus this year equivalent to 10 per cent
earned on its common stock.
The rumor has been circulated IN fnAn-
cisl circlss that II 10 questionable whether
The Union Pacific viii continue 70 pay its
10 per cent dividend this year and this
rumor has reached the ears OF many in
vestorS. Nobody knows what the Union
Paciio directors are going TO do untn they
DO It II the dividends were warranted last
fan By the earnings OF the road they are
more than warranted now, says tho Wall
Street journal.
None Expands AZ Much.
no great railroad in the last fiscal year
has expanded its dividend paying capacity
TO an extent equal to the expansion in
dividend paying capacity of the Onion Pa
clio
Men who are in a position 20 know say
that the idea OF a cut In the dividend Of
the Union Pacific III prepOsterous and not
worthy OF notice. Any student Of values
can demonstrate to his own satisfaction
that there Is no more reason to believe that
the Union Pacific Will cut its 10 per cent
dividend as far as one now can see, than
TO believe that many other stocks which
might be named will cut their per cent.
or per cent. orr per cent dividends, adds
the Journal.
Few people really appreciate the WORK
that is being done In the Union Pacific
and Southern Pacific this year. Some In
vestors who scrutlnised values more than
men who live close TO the Wall street
tape. have asked the Wall Street Journal
whether II considers that the earnings OF
the Hartman lines this year are q myth.
It 10 easy to see why some people should
think the earnings arc a myth. but there
is no doubt that they are a grim reality.
FIFTY Million Available.
The present indications are that when
the Union Pacific gets down to paying It's
fixed charges this year II will have earned
over $5O0O0OO0 applicable TO those charges.
The earnings of the Southern Pacific, how
ever. are a different matter. over IS per
cent of all the surplus earnings OF the
Southern Pacific railroad belongs to tho
Union Pacific road. Tho Southern Pacific
this year will earn not far short OF t2s,-
100000 in round figures. applicable TO the
payment of its common dividends.
The common dividends at s per cent call
for less than S1O,OOO,OOO leaving a balance
which will probably be earned over COM
mon dividends this year from S1s.O00.000 to
100000. Forty-five per cent OF this figure.
or fully ss.oOo,OOo really belongs to the
Union Pacific and is controlled by this
road absolutely.
Under the present conservative manage
ment OF the Southern Pacific, however, the
policy is to turn this surplus back into
the road, yet it could in case Of need be
turned over to fits legitimate owner, the
Union Pacific: and thus considering It, It
brings the real earnings Of the Union Pa
ciho well over 20 per cent on its common
stock. The foregoing figures seem to bear
out the statement that any talk of a cut
In the Union Pacific dividends this year is
preposterOus