Earnings

Managements throughout the land last week were reporting to their stockholders how earnings had fared during 1932. In many a case it was a question of how little the corporation had lost, in others big profits compared to much bigger ones in 1931. A few concerns were able to boast that, for them, 1932 had been a better year than 1931.

General Tire 6 Rubber Co., always the envy of the rubber industry, reported a $202,353 profit for the fiscal year ended Nov. 30. In the previous year it lost $444,063. This year's profit was after all inventory write-offs and despite a 20% drop in sales to $16,679,000, largely attributed not to a slump in volume of tires sold but to the decline in tire prices. Relatively small, efficient, and under the very personal management of Founder-President William O'Neil, General Tire is the only leading rubber company that had paid back dividends equal to the amount of capital invested. And General Tire has paid that three times over. Concentrating on the quality market, it has never entered the unprofitable original equipment business.

Oshkosh Overall Co., which makes Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls and work-pants ("They must make good or we will"), made $29,422 against $19,158. Unit sales were 10% ahead of 1931, a fact the management attributed to advertising plus the lowest prices since 1914. The company, 22 years old, uses about 70% of all eastern denim, sells almost all of its product to the retail trade by mail. It urges retailers to keep Oshkosh B'Gosh prices close to cost because "men trade where they buy their overalls."

Railway managements envied the coal-carrying Chesapeake & Ohio, kingpin of the Van Sweringen structure, which earned $23,384,000 against $26.558,000, or $3.06 a share against $3.47.

Tobacco companies were not entirely "depression-proof" but earnings held up remarkably. Liggett 6 Myers fell only $46,000 short of equaling 1931's $23,121,000 and Reynolds earned $33,674,000 against $36,396,000. Reynolds earnings were actually $4,000,000 higher than reported, that figure representing the excess of advertising appropriations for 1932 against actual expenditures. Breaking in newspapers last fortnight was the new Camel campaign, handled and written by William Esty & Co. (TIME, Dec. 26). Its motif: "It's fun to be fooled. . . . It's more fun to know."

Other 1932 reports included: 000's omitted D=Deficit

1932 1931 A. G. Spalding & Co. 2,660D 1,011D Cities Service 20,510* 22,769* Dome (gold) Mines 2,196* 1,690* Electric Bond & Share 13,566/- 25,050/- Hart, Schaffner & Marx 4,015D 2,994D Industrial Rayon 237 683 Stahl-Meyer (meats) 64D 66 United Corp. 13,824 18,445 U.S. Pipe & Foundry 1,273D 1,012 White Rock 728 1,124

*Before depletion and similar charges. /- Before securities write-downs and losses.

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