Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-15
RECORD DIVIDENDS
SEEN THIS YEAR
Corporations viii Divide Be-
tween S1,25o,ooo antq
. $1,150,o0o. 2 d
Special dispatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, December 14.-However
disappointing the stock market! may
have proved to shareholders in recent
weeks, there can be nothing but cheer
in store for them as they contemplate
the record breaking dividend and" in
terest payments that are about to be
made by corporations. For the evil
dence at hand is sufficient to indicate
that these payments, which are heavier
at the year end than at any other time,
will assume proportions never before
equaled in this or any other country
Accurate estimates as to the exact
amount to be paid out are virtually I'M
possible. But, based on the generally
accepted opinion that the year-end
payments last year amounted to ap-
proximately $1,OOO,OOO,O00. the conclu-
sion seems warranted that this years
total dividend and interest disbirse-
ments will total between $1,25o,oo0,ooo
and s1,500,0o0, 900.
Record Corporation Earnings.
The reasons for the increase in the
payments this year are many The
volume of securities outstanding has
! mounted substantially, and on many of
them payments are to be made. In the
first nine months OF the year corpora
ton earnings were by far the largest IN
history. A compilation prepared by the
National City Bank, including 272 man
ufacturing and trading. 1872 railroad, 80
telephone and telegraph and 95 other
utility companies. shows that corporate
profits in the first three-quarters aver
aged 20.3 per cent higher than in the
comparable 1923 period, itself an enor-
mously profitable time.
The steel industry. it Is pointed out,
made one of the best gains of any
group, amounting to 20 per cent In the
third quarter and 81 per cent in the
nine-month period. The prosperity en-
joyed by the steel industry has been,
in turn, passed on to holders of steel
shares.
Thus the United States Steel Corpor-
alton has departed from its time-hon-
| ored procedure and is paying an extra
dividend of 81 share on December &c.
this in addition to its regular payment
on that date of SITS share. The
payments to be made by this corpora
| ton alone on its common will amount
20 approximately $22, 900, 900.
Bethlehem Steel the second most i'm
! portant unit in the industry, has done
even better by its stockholders this year.
For where Bethlehem began the year
without its common on dividend basis
| it is entering 1880 with its common on
So annual basis. Its next payment on
: its common, however, does not occur
until February Is going to stock of
record January 18. The corporation
will pay $l.75 on its preferred stock on
January 2.
| SURPRISES Increase.
| Aside from the improvement in the
| financial position of corporations this
| year due to increased earnings their
emergence from debt has been eXpe-
dited by funds derived from offerings
of new stock to shareholders. The COM
panies, therefore, are better able to re-
| ward their stockholders handsomely at
! this time than ever before. Their sur
pluses have never been so large.
| The stockholders rewards have come
| in the form of extra, increased, initial,
| stock, resumed and back dividends. In
| the month of November alone the num-
Der of corporations taking favorable
dividend action was close to 300 as
| against less than one-tenth of, that
number which took unfavorable divi-
dend action.
| Heading the list of corporations which
will pay extra dividends around the
year-end is General Motors whose i'm
! mense earnings have been the pheno-
menon of American industry for several
years. On January 8, General
Motors will pay an extra dividend of
| 80 cents share on each of its S43, $780,
600 common shares, or about $l3000;-
600. E. ]. Du Pont de Nemours e. Co. Is
paying an extra of about $1,000 900 on
January 4. Other companies paying
cash or extra stock dividends around
! the same dates are numerous.
| January has for years been a
| favored date for payment of interest
! on bonds. In its current bulletin the
New York Stock Exchange lists more
than 100 bond issues on which interest
is payable on that date. Interest pay
ments in all. will, 1t is estimated, run
to at least $500, 100000 around the year.
| END.