American Can

The annual report of the American Can Co., covering 1923, was gratifying to its stockholders and a confirmation of Wall Street's high opinion of the Company. Net earnings in 1923, after preferred dividends, amounted to $10,983,094, or $19.64 on each of the 412,333 common shares. The surplus of the Company at the close of 1923 was $37,570,871, compared with $31,948,016 at the end of 1922. In addition, the debenture bonds of the Company, which totaled $10,233,000 in 1920, are gradually being retired; the amount outstanding shrank from $6,372,000 in 1922 to $5,494,000 in the 1923 statement. If earnings continue at the rate of the past two years, all these bonds may be bought up and retired before 1928, when the issue comes due.

Both the management and the bookkeeping of American Can have been admirably conservative. Comparing its status at the end of 1923 with that for 1922, working capital has in the past year increased from $37,069,792 to $41,230,247, cash from $10,398,209 to $13,173,329, inventories from $20,211,079 to $27,628,468, while holdings of Government securities declined from $8,528,236 to $3,010,860.

The strong cash and working capital position of the Company has recently enabled it to finance its heavy seasonal operations during the packing season without recourse to the banks. While the Company's earnings depend largely on crops, at the same time its business in other directions is becoming more and more extensive. For 1924 large earnings are considered probable at the present time. . . .