Jersey Record

Last week Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey filed a registration statement for an $85,000,000 issue of 25-year debentures with a 3% coupon--a record low for a long-term industrial bond. Biggest oil company in the U. S. with assets of $1,894,000,000, Standard Oil thus demonstrated that its credit is nearly as good as that of the U. S. Government. One sound reason for that credit rating was revealed at the time the registration was filed: Last year Standard Oil earned $62,800,000, a fat increase over the $45,600,000 reported in 1934 and an astonishing recovery from 1932 when profits amounted to precisely 1-c- per share.

Proceeds of the new bond issue will be used to retire the outstanding preferred stock of Standard Oil Export Corp., which was formed in 1928 under the Webb Act to handle the combined export business of Standard Oil and three subsidiaries. A non-profit organization, Export has only 100 shares of common stock, 40 owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey, 30 by Humble Oil & Refining, 25 by Standard of Louisiana, a New Jersey subsidiary, five by Carter Oil Co. Export's owners paid all expenses, guaranteed the big preferred stock issues. However, the new bonds are a direct obligation of parent Standard of New Jersey.

Also revealed in the registration statement was the fact that President Walter Teagle got a raise last year, his salary having been boosted from $112,500 to $125,000. More notable was the fact that Chairman Teagle discovered that a registration statement could be used for a sounding board. In those sections of the statement where a company has to record any known facts or conditions likely to affect the company adversely, Standard Oil unburdened itself of a long harangue on the subject of taxes, which because rates are changed every year are "an unpredictable item in the budget."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.