MAKING MONEY IS SIMPLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 67, 30 December 1946, Page 7

MAKING MONEY IS SIMPLE

GREYHOUND RACING IN ENGLAND HUGE TURNOVER “Bill” Cearns, from Wanstead, East London, 64-year-old chairman and managing director of the South London Greyhound Racecourse, Ltd. who owns the Wimbledon greyhound track and is celebrating a year of money-making by paying a dividend of 225 per cent, on the company’s deferred shares, can’t stop making money. On a race night between 18,000 and 20,000 people stream to Wimbledon. First of all they pay an average of 4s each to get past the turnstiles (admission prices are 2s, 4s, ans 10s 6d) —a total of between £3600 and £4OOO. Then most of them have a flutter. Before the. night is over they have laid and relaid bets on the totalisator so that the gross turnover is around £60,000. “Bill” Cearns and his company collect 6 per cent, of that for operating costs—£36oo. That makes a gross total of around £7500 for the evening. Twice a week for a year that goes on. Then at the end of the year “Bill” Cearns is able to report this account to his five co-directors:— Gross turnovex’ on tote £6,000,000; Turnstiles takings £374,500. First note the tote figures. The company’s 6 per cent, brings them £360,000. They have to pay £130,000 entertainment duty. Income on the year’s working is £360,000 plus £224,500 from takings, plus receipts from programme sales. From this deduct all the expenses, salaries, fees, bonuses (about £13,000), and other items and you have the net profit figure for the year. This year it is £454,000 and by the time income tax and E.P.T. have been met, £152,000 is left for the shareholders. Mr Cearns says: “I don’t see any prospect of our doing any rebuilding for five or six years, so ‘ploughing back’ is out. If we held large sums in reserve for rebuilding, the Treasury would soon have something to say about it.