Rio Tibrro.
Any disappointment which shareholders of the Rio Tinto Copper Company may have felt because the recent dividend showed no increase was changed, as a result of the statements at the recent meeting, into a feeling of satisfaction that the company had done so well in the face of important adverse influences. Sir Auckland Geddes explained that during the year conditions were affected by the fall in the price of copper, the average price being £55 13s. lid, against 158 Os. 8d. for 1926. The company was also affected by the aftermath of the Coal Strike, especially during the first quarter of the year, while another adverse influence was the unfavourable move- ment in the peseta and the dollar exchanges. The price of copper alone affected profits to the extent of 1100,000, while the appreciation in the Spanish peseta cost the company nearly £200,000. Sir Auckland gave the shareholders an excellent description of the general organization of the company, and made it clear that its operations now cover other countries than Spain, and that, although essentially a copper-producing company, muich of its produce was now in the nature of sulphur and iron ore. Moreover, improvements in metallurgy are now enabling the company to recover lead and zinc. A. W. K.
Previous page
