" CHARTERED " COMPANY EARNS MORE.
The British South Africa Company raised its gross income by £262,700 to £960,090 in the year ended September 30th. Its net profit after providing for taxation was £165,136 higher at £686,650. Both figures are the best since 1929. The total distribution for the year has been raised to I31 per cent. com- pared with io per cent. The improvement very largely reflects last year's activity in copper. The " Chartered " Company owns the copper royalties of Northern Rhodesia and these depend both on the volume of production and the price. It also holds large direct investments in the Rhodesian mining indus- tries, and controls by way of Rhodesia Railways Trust Rhodesia Railways, whose earnings in turn reflect the prosperity of the mining industry. It may be that for the current year copper will be a less productive source of direct revenue, but the railway interests should be more lucrative. Net earnings of Rhodesia Railways last year rose from £157,174 to £916,773. The bulk of the profit on this occasion has to go to reserve, but
a dividend is expected in respect of the current year. * * * *
Previous page
