Evening star., 1937-05-30
AUTHORITY ASKED
BY GAS LIGHT CO.
TO ADD TO STOCK
$10,00O,000 Mortgage Is.
sue Part of $11,5OO,0OO
Refunding Plan.
WOULD SELL 5000
| SHARES OF PREFERRED
Petition Filed With Utilities Body
Revises Refnancing Plan
of March.

Authority to increase the number
Of its shares Of stock from 10000
to 100000, at some future date, was
requested yesterday by the WASH
ington Gas Light Co. in a petition filed
with the Public Utilities Commission.
The proposal was made in a revision
OF the plan which was filed with the
commission last March TO- which en-
vlsioned reshaping of the entire
financial structure of the company.
At that time the company had
proposed that it be allowed TO issue
sl0,000,000 of mortgage bonds and
to sell $4,000 shares of preferred stock
to make possible the refunding of out
standing bonded indebtedness amount
ing to s1l 500 900.
The new petition. among other
things, abandons the plan for the
bond refunding program, the expla-
nation being that, due to falling prices
in the bond market. the company
probably could not sell the new bonds
to advantage at this time. A company
spokesman said it was possible the
company may renew its bond re.
financing plan in the Fall.
Nearly $4,000, 900 Needed.
As substitute for the old proposals
for combination Of new bonds and
preferred stock, the company now
asks the commission to approve the
issue OF 10000 shares Of preferred
$3.50 cumulative convertible preferred
stock The receipts would be used
to reimburse the company in part for
improvements and betterments made
prior to December 81, 1896. and to
provide the company with funds to
retire outstanding bank loans. The
company, it is said, will need nearly
S2,000o00 for this years financing.
The price at which the preferred
stock would be sold was not stated,
but the company said this information
would be supplied before the commis-
sion acted finally on the plan. In
March the company planned to ask
close to 500 per share, but it said
1t expected to get somewhat less than
that sum now.
In addition to the preferred stock
plan. the company has repeated its
March request to be allowed to divide
its present 10000 shares Of common
stock into three parts, raising the
total to $4,000 shares, each without
par value. The present common
stock has par value Of $40 per
snare. 1t adds to this plan the re-
quest for an authorization of cap.
italization of 1000 900 shares of stock.
Common Stock Class.
The company stated its plan was to
classify as common stock 900 o00 Of
the proposed 100000 shares, this to
include the 100000 shares to result
from the proposed partition of the
present 10000 shares, and to classify
the remaining 100000 shares into two
classes of preferred stock. OF the
preferred stock, $4,000 shares Of the
authorization would be $3.50 shares
and 10000 would be SIS shares.
The company, in revising its finan.
cial program, has not withdrawn its
March 10 proposal that it be allowed
to purchase the Hyattsville and Alex
andria gas concerns. which are owned
by the same Massachusetts, common.
law trust which holds about "a per
cent Of the present common stock OF
the Washington Gas Light Co. This
trust is the Washington & Suburban
companies.
The plan then was for the WASH
ington company to pay its parent
trust lump sum of sl,25o,00o for the
two suburban companies, or to pay
for them by the issuance Of 1880 of
the proposed $3.50 preferred stock.
Last year the Washington company
went to the commission with a pro-
posal that 1t be permitted to pay the
trust sl,375,000 in cash for the two
suburban concerns, only one Of which
has been paying dividends, but the
commission rejected the price as be-
ing too high.