Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1940)

^6 MOTION PICTURE HERALD April 6 , I 9 I GENERAL THEATRES AND PATHE PROFIT: (.Continued from page 44) on account of the stock option, or $10,400, the expense allowance to Sidney R. Kent, president of the company. Under his employment contract, Mr. Kent received, last year, $179,370; under his contract, Joseph M. Schenck, chairman of the board and executive head of production, received $113,833 ; under his contract, Darryl F. Zanuck. vice-president in charge of production, received $255,000. The Chase National Bank, as of March 1st, this year, owned approximately 221,157 shares of common, and 671,915 shares of preferred stock. This is approximately one-third of the present outstanding voting stock. The bank also holds, in various trust accounts, about 1,000 shares of common stock, and 40 shares of preferred. The company's annual stockholders' meeting will be on April 16th. Twelve directors are to be reelected. They, and their stock holdings, are listed, thus : H. Donald Campbell, 6/24 share of common and 6/12 preferred; John R. Dillon, one common, one preferred ; Wilfred J. Eadie, one common, no preferred ; Daniel O. Hastings, one common, no preferred; Felix A. Jenkins, one common, no preferred; Sidney R. Kent, 3,155 common and 6/12 preferred (Kent, in addition, has a contingent beneficial interest in 500 shares of preferred, held in trust for a member of his family) ; William C. Michel, 1,393 common and 6/12 preferred; William P. Phillips, one common, no preferred ; Hermann G. Place, 6/24 common, 6/12 preferred ; Seton Porter, 876 common, no preferred ; Joseph M. Schenck, 110,042 common, 15,283 preferred; Sydney Towell, 33 shares common, 67 preferred. Mr. Campbell and Mr. Place are officers of the Chase National Bank and represent it on the board. William Goetz, a vice-president of the company, who is not on the board, owned, on March 1st, this year, about 178,342 shares of common stock, and 55,283 shares of preferred. The holdings of Messrs. Goetz, Schenck, and Zanuck represent about 19 per cent of the voting stock. At the April 16th meeting, stockholders are to vote on a proposal to grant Mr. Zanuck an option to purchase not more than 100 shares of common stock. Pathe Report Pathe Film Corporation, for the year ended December 31st, 1939, had a net profit of $424,489, its annual report shows. This amount remains, after interest, Federal income taxes, etc., equal after dividend requirements on the $7 cumulative convertible preferred stock, to 64 cents a share (par $1) on 581,271 common. In 1938, the company had a net profit of $77,158, equal to four cents a share on 581,679 shares of common stock. The net profit of the DuPont Film Manufacturing was also reported; this was, for the same year ended the same date, $1,650,274, after deduction for Federal income taxes and other charges. This compares with $1,259,566 in 1938. The Consolidated income account for year 1939 compares as follows : 1939 1938 1937 Divs., etc., received.... *$466,545 $109,254 $508,072 Interest, etc 31.556 30,896 41,668 Federal income taxes.. 10,500 1,200 1,200 Minority interest tl,714 Net profit $424,489 $77,158 $466,918 Preferred divs 54,231 54,766 55,907 Surplus for com $370,258 $22,392 $411,011 •Consists of $11,545 net profit of film developing and printing of Pathe Film Corp. for the eight weeks ending February 25, 1939, and $455,000 in dividends received from Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corp. tCredit. FILMS TO EDUCATE GEORGIA FARMERS Visual education of farmers through the use of motion pictures and exhibits is being tried out in 13 north Georgia counties. Conceived by state agents in Whitfield, Walker and Catoosa Counties last year, the novel means to improve farming practices attracted some 30,000 spectators in Whitfield County alone last year after it had been introduced by B. M. Drake, Whitfield agent. The widespread interest and similar results in Walker and Catoosa Counties prompted the extension service to provide better equipment and more films. Mr. Drake was placed in charge of the expanded project which will also include Union, Dade, Gordon, Chattooga, Floyd, Murray, Towns, Fannin, Rabun and Gilmer Counties. Balance sheet of Pathe Film Corp. as of December 31, 1939, follows: Assets: Cash, $9,133; accounts receivable, $2,083; investment in 3,500 shares (35%) of capital stock of DuPont Film Manufacturing Corp., at amount acquired from predecessor company in 1935, pledged to secure bank loan $2,857,143; total, $2,868,359. Liabilities : $7 cumulative convertible preferred represented by 7,713 no-par shares, $771,512; common stock, par $1 per share, $581,271 ; bank note payable, $125,000; accounts and sundry accruals, $5,062 ; reserve for federal income taxes, $10,500; capital surplus, $1,007,205, earned surplus, $367,809 ; total, $2,868,359. GTE Earned $696,062 Net profit of $696,062 in 1939, was reported Monday by General Theatres Equipment Corporation in its annual report to stockholders. This amount is after all charges, including federal income tax and a $51,665 reserve against investment in, and advances to subsidiaries not consolidated. GTE is a holding corporation, controlling, among others, the International Projector Corporation and the National Theatre Supply Company; which concerns, in turn, control manufacturers of equipment ; the latter having an interest in certain lighting equipment manufacturers, and other equipment makers, and the former manufacturing the Simplex mechanisms. The GTE annual report was sent to the stockholders by Earl G. Hines, president. The $696,062 net profit is equivalent to about $1.17 per share, on 592,887 shares of capital stock, which was outstanding at the end of 1939. The 1938 net profit was $507,267, the equivalent of 85 cents per share on 597,887 shares. The 1939 figure includes $185,600 in dividends, received on the corporation's investment in Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation's common stock, one-half the amount received in dividends on this investment, in 1938. At the present, the report remarks, no dividend is being paid on the latter's common stock. _ General Theatres Equipment last year retired 5,000 shares of capital stock in the open market, at approximately $9 a share, the cost being charged to paid-in surplus. Its directors, last Friday, declared a divi dend of 20 cents per share on the capital st< This is to be paid on April 18th, to stockhok of record on April 8th. The last dividend, j the same, on December 18th, was 15 cents. The Securities and Exchange Commission port on stock dealings for the month of Feb ary, issued on Friday, declared that the heav transaction by officers and directors of molt picture companies in the securities of their fir occurred in Pathe Films. Kenneth M. Young, of New York, officer, Pathe Film Corporation, acquired 500 shi of that company's common stock, the S said. These are his first holdings in that cl Another heavy transaction was the disp tion, by gift, of 300 Columbia Pictures' c| mon voting trust certificates, by Jack Co vice-president. This cuts Mr. Cohn's holdi to 31,221 certificates. Loew's, which has been acquiring Loew's F ton Theatres common stock, acquired se more, in February, giving it a total of 100. shares. There were other transactions : disposition 50 shares of Universal Pictures first prefer stock, by Preston Davies, a director, of N York, reducing his holdings to 70 shares ; obtaining of 100 shares of the common stl of GTE by an officer of the company, M. Carroll, of New York, these being his enholdings, as of that month, in the company Columbia Declares Dividend The directors of Columbia Pictures last vM declared a dividend (regular quarterly) of €' cents per share on the convertible prefer, stock, payable on March 15th to stockholder;* record on May 1st. Releasing Six Finnish Films in This Country J. H. Hoffberg, New York distributor independent pictures, has contracted v1 Suomi Films, Finnish motion picture stu< for six Finnish films. This week five of trj were already in the exchange. One film has English titles, fitted in P land. Hoffberg is not adding English ti here. It was explained that the pictures, of low budget, cannot compete, in art hou with product from France, and so the ploitation is directed at populations with rect or indirect affinity to Finland, showings will be held largely in conjunct with Finnish war relief work. J. H. Hoffberg has been touring the 1Y die Western territories where greatest sponse is expected — Michigan, Wiscon Ohio. The pictures were made last year ; Suomi, whose studios in Helsinki retnai open throughout the Russian-Finnish v making propaganda films. All the pictures are in sound. The titles are "The Smuggler" (with E lish titles), "The Henpecked Husbat "Two Victors," "Wife in Name Only," "' Rapid Shooter's Bride" and "Inspecton f, Siltala." McCormick Back in New York S. Barret McCormick, RKO Radio vertising and publicity director, arrived! New York from the coast this week aftd fortnight of conferences with studio ex(' fives on announcement plans for the i | season's product.