AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL RECOVERY.
A year ago the Australian Pastoral Company, which has passed through some very trying years, showed good signs of recovery and the latest accounts, covering the year ended June 30th last, reveal still more marked improvement. A year ago the earnings were better at £146,000 odd, but for the past year they have been raised to over £182,000, while the net profit has risen from just over £47,000 to £73,531. The directors have now been able to raise the dividend from 3 per cent. to 5 per cent., free of tax, while the allocation to the General Reserve has been raised from Do,000 to £12,00o and the carry-forward is increased from £9,479 to just over £21,000. Even throughout the trying years, the balance- sheet has always been a strong one and the latest figures show a thoroughly liquid position : on the one side of the balance- sheet the General Reserve stands at £326,doo, with a reserve against fixed assets in Australia of £16o,000 ; on the assets side investments are entered at £563,125, though the market value at the date of the balance-sheet was £611,814.
A. W. K.
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