TRANSPORT " C " POSITION
This is a sad blow for the " C " stockholders of the London Transport Board. No final dividend despite the raising of the fares and no light on the prospects now that the Board has passed under Government control. I will reserve judgement until the full accounts appear, but it is hard to understand why a modest final dividend could not have been paid. Passenger takings for the year to June 3oth actually increased and I cannot imagine, even allowing for higher expenditure and the reduction in receipts from the pooling arrangements with the main-line companies, that net revenue fell very substantially. The Board, however, has not departed from its stern financial policy and has not only maintained its reserve appropriations but raised the reserve for renewal by £145,000 to L2,570,000. As I have always suggested would be the case, the higher fares brought an increase in revenue, but as they were not operative until June nth, they could not bring any material benefit in the past financial year.
Everybody must feel sorry for Transport " C " stock- holders. They have never received their standard rate of dividend since the Board was set up ; they now get i per cent., against 4 per cent. for 1937-38 ; their right to appoint a receiver is obviously academic now that the Government has taken control ; they are still in the dark about their position under the new regime ; and they have a stock which, thanks to the Treasury, is hopelessly frozen at the official minimum price of 65. In relation to the II per cent. dividend 65 is obviously much too high, but I do not take the view that all is lost. If ever there was a case for a generous deal, it is surely here. The minimum price should prove to be justified when the terms of Government control are disclosed.
Previous page
