Evening star., 1942-06-01
Flood Of Dividends
This Week 10 Show
Profits Trend
Second-Q d-Quurter Totul
Now Is Expected to
Lao Behind 1o4l
BY FRANK MacMILLEN,
Wide World Business Writer,


NEW YORK, June 1-One of the
busiest weeks of the year for divi-
dend declarations begins today, with
a half hundred corporations sched-
uled to announce payments.
Another and important chapter
will be written in the running story
of what war is doing to the profits
of corporations and the return OF
investors.
While some of the very largest
corporations already have attended
TO the dividend situation recently
without change of rates, such as
American Telephone, United States
Steel and Bethlehem Steel, the
forthcoming week will provide action
on some big companies.
Among them are American Smelt-
ing, Loew's, Consolidated Oil, Inter
national Printing Ink, Cannon Mills
and Borg-Warner.
Decrease Expected.
It now looks almost certain, stat
isticians figure, that the dollar total
of dividends for the second quarter
of this year will run behind the
same period last year.
In the first quarter common
dividends on stock exchange listed
issues ran to 100000. or a per
cent less than in the first period
of 194l.
The first three months of this
year included cuts by such giants
as Chrysler, Du Pont and General
Motors, and other more recent re-
ductions have been announced by
Johns Manville and American
Tobacco as we'll as number OF
smaller companies.
Financial men will be watching
closely the dividend news between
now and June 30.
Rail Financing Troubles.
Railroads financing of the pur-
chase of rolling stock through sale
of equipment trust certificates to in
vestors has hit queer snag.
Equipment trusts, though usually
sold before the equipment is built or
purchased, specify the number and
type of cars and engines to be ac-
quired and pledge them as security
for the obligations.
The New York Central has asked
holders of recent issue of equip
ment trusts for permission to sub
stitute other equipment for that
specified, because the materials were
never obtained to build all the equip
ment planned. The Pennsylvania is
said to face a similar difficulty.
Who said business as usual? Turn
over in the New York Stock Ex-
change in May dropped to the fan
tastically low total of 1900 00C
shares. Apparently war is no stim-
ulator of the brokers' trade. Com
parsons go back to World War 1. II
was the poorest May since 1914.
New Bonds Awaited.
The coming week promises to be
good one for the security under
writing business, with S70,000,000 of
new bonds scheduled for offering to
the public. For the whole month of
May new security offerings were just
under s66 900 900.
The top offering of the week is the
S36,500,000 total of mortgage bonds
and debentures of the Virginia
Public Service Co. Originally two
investment banking groups, one OF
Eastern firms and the other mainly
Midwestern, planned to compete
for the issue in competitive bidding
With the bond market acting a
bit lethargic the two groups have
combined to form a Nationwide
peddling syndicate of more than a
hundred firms.
Bank Advertising Urged.
John H. Morse Of the Department
of Commerce, writing in the current
issue Of the magazine Trusts and
Estates berates bankers for what
he considers the limited and un-
imaginative way they have used ad-
vertising to build their business.
Urging them to take the mystery
out of banking with Straightforward
advertising of their wares. he says
Try to sense how people who
know nothing and care less about
your products can be reached with
selling arguments that show them
what your products will do for them
Have your advertising committee
call in good advertising man, pref
erably one with an account in your
bank. Don't put too many hand
cuffs on him. Don't throw him
out when he reminds you you can
not fight bombs with dignity nor
build a business with hauteur, in
theSe davs 0f harsh req 1ity :"