Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-03-31 | Page 13 | Copper Dividends are Generally Cut

COPPER OilEIS ME GENERALLY CUT Nine Large Companies, in Period of Two Weeks, Reduce "Velvet." The past fortnight saw nine more recruits re-cruits added to the ranks of those copper producers that have shaved down quarterly quar-terly dividends, saya the Boston News Bureau. The total now amounts to twenty-five, although strictly the latest squad consists of onlv eiisht individual companies, for Anaconda, at its meeting last December, took the initial step anions the producers and reduced its quarterly dividend from $2 to $1.50; then on Monday it clipped 50 cents off the hitter hit-ter ligure, putting the stock on a $-1 annual an-nual basis. Although copper shareholders in particular par-ticular and the financial public in .general arc cognizant of conditions in the metal industry, the action of Calumet & Heela in passing the dividend entirely caused a slight lifting of the eyebrows. Sober thought, however, confirms one in the belief that it was an ultraconservative step. The big Lake operator had money enough; it was not a- question of ability to pay; it was more a question of policy, and no one can find fault with a copper producer being desirous of husbanding his cash . during these times. Old Dominion passed its quarterly dividend divi-dend of $1, . Shareholders in this venerable venera-ble dividend payer, however, have little to complain of. During the past four years of prosperity in the copper industry indus-try Old Dominion has distributed in dividends divi-dends almost what it is now selling for, namely, $0 per share. The last of the leading copper companies com-panies to declare its dividend for the current cur-rent quarter is Inspiration. Directors are due to meet within the next week. Prognostications Prog-nostications regarding Inspiration's dividend divi-dend course have proved decidedly hazardous. haz-ardous. 'The company upset all calculations calcula-tions last time in continuing its usual quarterly of 2 per share. Since then, however, it has added about 1S,000.00L pounds of copper to its. surplus, and, estimating esti-mating a production of 15 cents a conservative con-servative ligure this means that $2,700.-000 $2,700.-000 is tied up in this metal alone. It would take ?2, 362,000 to pay the usual quarterly dividend of ?2 per share on the 1,131,000 shares.