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Show The National Enterprise , July 7, Page Eleven 1976 Freedom Arrested The parades have disbanded, the fireworks But Bicentennial rhetoric extinguished. shall, most likely, linger till year end. Perhaps though it is time to stop talking about liberty, freedom, and the pursuit of and begin doing something happiness about restoring those once cherished virtues. Not before then, nor since, have the principles embodied 200 years ago in Adam Smiths An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations formed the basis of state policy of any nation besides the U.S. Deemed revolutionary then, they appear even more frightening today to those who prefer the guidance of a tangible arm of omnipresent government to an invisible hand of commerce. But people of that day were born of oppression and more likely to welcome the adventure of freedom. And free to enjoy adventure, they built the most powerful nation on earth. Fights Cash Position; Works to Build Profits Tele- - Communications out arrangements with crediDENVER T Inc. (OTC 9.00, tors that will give it a little 9.75) isnt on the rocks as more time to pay and to some people have rumored, reduce liabilities due this the companys president told year. shareholders at the firms annual meeting. The present cash flow, according to John C. Malone, president and chief executive officer of the cable television company, can retire present debt in eight years. But, he admitted, the firm is in a negative working capital position and is trying to fight back and show a profit The company this year. hasnt been able to show a profit since 1972, primarily because of an investment effort as the firm was building its cable television empire. The debt caused by that investment effort is massive and payments have eaten away the firm's earnings in past years. This year, according to Malone, the company is working from a position of having $5.28 million in current assets at the end of 1975 to pay off current liabilities of $22.74 over-enthusiast- ic The debt problems held the company to a net loss of $156,000, equal to 10 cents a share, on revenues of $40.57 million, compared with a net loss of 15.66 million, equal to $3.04 a share, on revenues of $34.2 million the previous year. of the All 1976 loss, the first quarter, but the gains in subsequent quarters werent able to erase the loss. For the however, was in past four quarters, Tele- communications has been in the black. During the first quarter this year, the firm reported net income of $178,000, or 2 cents a share, on revenues of $10.88 million, compared with a net loss of $576,000, equal to 13 cents a share, on revenues of $9.57 million in the same period a year earlier. Fighting Back The cable television commillion, leaving negative pany is fighting its way back, working capital of $17.46, Malone told shareholders. which must be made up from Revenues have climbed from $19.2 million in 1972 to $40.5 cash flow during the year. The firm is trying to work million in 1975, and the annual equivalent of the first quarter of business this year is $43.5 million. The firm's cable television subsidiary. Community Inc. is in second the the largest all subscribif of the country, ers in the companys 17 perns cent owned subsidiary, Athena Communications Corp., are counted. In addition to the common stock ownership, the firm holds 90 percent of its affiliates preferred stock. It is the least healthy of the subsidiary firm's operations, according to W.R. Brazeal, executive vice president of Community TeleBill communications. Athenas operations are improving, however, with revenues of $7.6 million in the past year and revenues of $2.1 million in the latest quarter from the 107,626 subscribers. It has obtained six rate Earnings Triple at primarily because of an agres-siv- e program of getting rate increases from communities that the cable television network serves. That effort for rate increases resulted in 82 hikes during the past year and an additional $2 million a year in Another 23 inrevenues. creases in the first quarter has added $65,000 a month in revenues for the company, " according to Brazeal. The firm also has added pay television, which gives the firm an additional $6 to $8 in revenues for each customer each month. Revenues, he added are growing at a greater rate than cost of operations. Carter Page, president of Western Tele-Communicatio- ns Inc., the companys microwave subsidiary, said that the company improved last year and provided income to $300,000 in pre-taits parent. Performance will continued to improve this x increases since the end of the year, which added $52,000 in revenues a month for the year, he added. In spite of the improving company. performance, however, it is Community had 493,382 sub- hard for the firm to raise new scribers at the end of last year capital, because revenues curand has added another 22,000 rently are at only 24 percent of He since that tiem, Brazeal said. net capital investment. Revenues of the subsid- said that he felt that the firm Continued on page twelve iary have gown 15 percent, Tele-Communicatio- ns Argonaut Net earnings Amarillo trippled for Ar.gonaut Energy Corporation (OTC 1.875, 2.375) in its fiscal year ending March 31, 1976, over the previous fiscal year, according to company president Glen S. Sodcrstrom. Argonaut realized net income of $96,452 or $.08 per share on operating revenues of $672,022 in the year just ended compared to $31,942 or $.03 per share on revenues of $599,769 for fiscal 1975. Operating income was up 54 from $99,908 to $153,450 total assets increased 21 from 52,037,446 to $2,471,763; and shareholders equity increased 13 from $733,588 to $830,040. Sodcrstrom attributed Argonaut's gains to increased prices of gas and oil (up 44 and 19 respectively) as w'ell as an 81 success on wells drilled during the year. He disclosed that Argonaut at the fiscal year-en- d had 20 wells waiting on sales connection. According to James A. Lewis, reservoir engineers, the value of Argonaut's reserves climb- ed from $4,321,828 79. - to $2,416,475 an increase of |