Finance—Public and Private
Railways as Investments
CONJECTURES- Concerning the interim dividends shortly to be announced by the __English railway companies have imparted a' little more activity of late to the English Railway Market, but it cannot be said that these con- jectures have resulted in any important movements in the shares, nor in any confident buying. At first sight this would seem to be a little surprising having regard to the fact that last year the railways had to withstand influences of so adverse a character that it might almost be assumed that nothing worse could be in store for the shareholders, and that the turning point in the railway position had been reached. And, usually, conviction that the worst has been seen prompts a good deal of buying of stocks both speculatively and for genuine investment. To some extent no doubt the failure of prices to recover is due to a clearer recognition of the magnitude of last year's disaster arising out of the General Strike and the coal stoppage, those troubles, moreover, following upon previous years of bad trade and diminished profits. Collectively, the railways must have taken from reserves and carry forwards last year something like £18,000,000 to pay even the greatly reduced dividends, while within the past few years reserve resources have been tapped altogether to the extent of about £30,000,000. It is not surprising, therefore, that there should be a general expectation that the companies will be anxious to strengthen their reseryes, and will display considerable caution as regards the interim dividend announcements.
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