Box Score

Major activity of the U. S. is business, and major objective of business is profits.

Therefore, even though businessmen were more interested in 1940's prospects than in 1938's results, the earnings reports for 1939, coming thick & fast last week, made news.

-- Goodyear Tire-- & Rubber Co., No. 1 world tire producer, which amazed the public and enraged its competitors last November by cutting its tire prices in the face of rising rubber prices, reported $9,838,797 net for 1939, 63% better than 1938.

-- Biggest railroad profit in the land was Pennsylvania Railroad's, 1939 net of $32,032.525, up 90% from 1938. Of this net, 57.9% came from 1939's last quarter when P. R. R. fed lustily on the steel boom. On the other hand, skinny Baltimore & Ohio's achievement was to shave its interest requirements $11,800,000, have only a $1,622,207 deficit in 1939, against $13,124,530 in 1938 (see p. 81}.

-- Having smartened up its board by removing seven out of 17 directors, Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc., makers of Arrow Shirts and owners of the fast-spreading Sanforizing process, netted $3,058,200 in 1939, 175.3% more than in 1938.

-- Marshall Field & Co., Chicago's biggest department store, reported $4,636,558 net, up 32.8%. During 1939 it bought the site of its main store building from the estate of its late, great founder Marshall Field with money borrowed at 3.6%, stood to save some $500,000 a year on its real-estate costs.

-- Libby-Owens-Ford Glass Co., No. 1 factor in automotive glass and sole supplier to General Motors, rode on the back of 1939's automobile production boom, for the year netted $8,062,753, more than twice 1938's.

-- In 1898 Charles W. Post, founder of General Foods Corp., was advertising his two products, Grape-Nuts and Postum, as "brain food" and safeguard against "coffee heart." In 1939 General Foods advertised its more than 80 products through 14 radio programs (five of them top-notchers, one, JellO. featuring most-popular Jack Benny, two local New York programs in Yiddish), sold most food in its history. Its 1939 net, $15.118.063, up 11.4%.

-- During 1939 Kroger Grocery & Baking Co. (No. 3 U. S. food chain in sales) liquidated 90-odd of its jerkwater stores in favor of bigger meat & grocery stores and supermarkets. 1939 net, $5,514,597, 47.4% better than 1938.

-- During 1939 big American Can Co. increased its sales 12.5% to $189,434,614, while its kid-competitor Continental Can Co. Inc.'s sales were up only 7.7%, to $92,196,834. Both companies increased their net incomes roughly two and a half times as fast as sales, American 34% to $18,284,964, Continental 18.1% to $8,635,787.

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