The Sun and the New York herald., 1920-04-28
U. S. STEEL NET HAS
GAIN OF $6,297,717
Corporation Reports Earnings
Of $42,O89,019 for First
1920 Quarter.
PAYS REGULAR DIVIDEND
The Railroad Strike Affects
Operations to COnsid-
cradle Extent.
PAYS REGULAR DIVIDEND

The earnings OF the United States Steel
Corporation for the quarter ended on
March 81, as disclosed in its quarterly
statement issued yesterday afternoon,
were considerably In excess OF those for
the last preceding quarter aS we'll Gs
those for the corresponding quarter Of
1913. Its net earnings, after taxes, &C.,
but before depreciation and interest on
the corporations bonds, amounted 10
$42,0Ss,0l9, against $35,791.3o2 In the
immediately preceding quarter ana sS3.-
blS,3S4 In the first quarter Of 1919.
! After all charges for depreciation, re-
I placement, interest, &c, the corporation
; showed net earnings available for divi-
dends OF s26,03i,TS5, which, after de-
duction OF preferred dividends. ts equita-
lent TO sass share on its outstanding
common stock, or more than ,hree times
lis regular. dividend OF S1.2j share,
which contrasts with a BALANCE avail-
able for dividends In the last preceding
quarter ot $l7,SS0.ss0 or S2s77 q share
on its common stock.
OF course II has Deen expected IN the
financial district that the report Of tie
biggest steel manu- lcturlng company FOR
the first quarter Of 'his yea would show
very substantial increase IN earnings
as compared with the last previous quar-
ter. but estimates OF not earnings in eX-
cess of $40, 900 we're idw ard lar be-
tween and the street vas pleasantly
/ surprised by the statement. The COR
poration'S operations we're a;fscted dur.
ing the quarter to a considerable extent
, by the railroad strike, which not only
Ia nh nf II a
of which raw material could be sup
piled and finished product shipped. but
also in a shortage Of fusl for operation
of the corporations furnaces, The SNOW
ing made Is considered. therefore, sll the
more remarkable.
The best returns OF the quarter ac-
cordlng TO the statement, were IN March.
when earnings before deduction OF in-
terest on subsidiary companies bonds
totalled s16,4i2,S9S, against Sl3.jS7,975
in February and $142l1.1t7 in January.
The total earnings before deduction OF
its subsidiary companies bond interest
for the quarter were S4i,2l2.020, After
deduction of those charges they agSre-
gated S42,0S9.019, against $35.T91 80? In
the last quarter Of 1919. For depreciA-
tIon and extraordinary replacement
funds and sinking funds on the bonds
of it's subsidiaries SS,714.T34 was set up,
against $10.729,256 in the Immediately
previous quarter, and $9,O60,584 was set
aside for the sinking fund for the re-
tlrement Of the corporations bonds.
which is but slightly higher than in tht
December quarter. Interest charges and
premiums on bonds redeemed totalled
SS,2a1,sl6. against S5,S44,s19. and divi-
dends were unchanged at $12.6SS.IO0.
which left a surplus for the quarter OF
S1S,373,085, against S5,222.2SS in the last
previous three months.
The regular quarterly dividends OF
Ia per cent. on its preferred stock and
IN per cent. on its common were de-
elared, the former payable on May 20 TO
stock of record on May 3 and the latter
on June 80 to stock OF record on June J.
Ii was pointed out yesterday that the
earnings of the corporation for the quar-
ter were considerably better than the
statement would indicate inasmuch as
a general advance OF 10 per cent in
wages was granted TO the corporations
employees during the quarter just ended,
At the time that the announcement OF
the wage Increase was made II was esti-
mated that the annual cost to the cor
poration would be some $4,000 600, OF
about SS.500.G00 monthly. That in |
crease became effective on February
and, therefore. on the basis OF opera !
tions for the preceding quarter the cor
poration's earnings tor the first three |
months of 1920 were actually $7oO0.O00 |
more than the report indicated. be-
cause prices of products were not raised |
to meet the additional cost OF the labor.
On that basis, it was estimated, the
for tho quarter would have been
about $l.3S a share more, making total
OF $3.50 a share. Although 1t Is true
that that fact made no difference in the
actual cash profits for the
quarter, It shows that the increase of
earnings over the preceding quarter was
much larger than the statement would
indicate on its face.
The following Is a statement OF the
earnings for the first quar-
ter Of 1905
EARNINGS.
January. 1890 t1s,5o3 203
February, ls@. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. T., $50 so
March, 1920, l5,10tsQ0