YEAR'S RAILWAY PROFIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18396, 11 May 1923, Page 6

YEAR'S RAILWAY PROFIT

TOTAL OF £1,225,306.

NEARLY A MILLION IN NORTH

DEFICIT ON INTEREST BILL

[BY TBUB3BAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON. Thursday.

Receipts exceeding working expenses by £224.626 are shown by the Railway Department's working account for the four weeks ended March 31. The net revenue for the period to March 3 was £173,726. Details for the various sections for the last period are: NORTH ISLAND. Receipts. Expenses. .".-'■■ £ .£ Whangarei .. .. 7,036 10,436 Kaihu • . . .... 9U 599 Gisborne . . '. . . . 3,433 2.380 Main lines and branches 858,496 221,789 Totals .. .. .. £ 369.878 £235,206 SOUTH ISLAND. Main lines and branches 226,350 143,212 Westland .'. . . .. 13.956 12.837 Westport ..... . . 11.640 6,212. Nelson 1.931 2.37G Picton 3.915 3.370 Lake Wakatipu steamers 1,098 958 Totals . ... £258.922 £168,908 Grand totals ... £628.800 "£404.175 The total revenue from April 1, 1922, to March 31, 1923, was £6,727,801, and the expenditure £5,502,496, the working profit being £1,225,306. For- the 1921-22 year .... the totals were : — Revenue, £6,643,591;! ' expenditure, £6,237,727; working profit, £405,864. The revenue in the North Island was £4,009,677, and tho expenditure £3,081,963. The South Island revenue was £2,718,124 and the expenditure £2,420,532. . In the North Island, expenses absorbed 76.86 per cent, of earnings, the proportion for the South Island being 89.05' per cent. For the whole system, expenses were at the rate of 81.79 per cent, of earnings. Following is a comparison of the net earnings or losses for the North and the South Island systems for each four weekly period, with the corresponding returns for last year: - : North Island. South Island. To 1921-22. 1922-23. 1921-22. 1922-23. April 29 £58,047 £64,229 £10,432 £35,949 May 27 18,821 28,812 ■ • 18,203* 26,849 June 24 13,333 >. 16,716 28,405* 2,751* July 22 13,326*' 9,205 85,798* 8,222* Aug. 19 9,498* 14.308 42,735* 4.979* Sept.. 16 20,081 44,094 27,021* 8,431* Oot. 14 36,270 46.493 86,977* 6,249* Nov. 11 27,704 70,548 20,771* ' 9,217 Dee. 9 43,981 79,339 21.309* 610* Jan. 6 129,399 168,621 45,767 63,642 Feb. 3 78,928 183,151 18,069 43,621 Mar. 3 87,331 118.525 25.871 65,201 Mar. 31 ; 37,355 134,672 24,527 89.954 Totals £517,428 £927,714 £111.563» £297,592 •Lobs. The capital invested in opened lines at March 31, 1922, was £39,309,097, and the cost of unopened lines at that date £5,380,651. Counting the interest charge on the cost of opened lines at 3J per cent., the amount for the financial year will be £1,474.091. The expenditure on North Island ! railways was £19,391,080. and on the South Island railways £19,363,326. The balance of £554,691 represents the department's stock of stores for construction works. If the latter item is divided equally between the two systems, the amount to be earned by the North Isla' -1 railways to pay interest would be £737,566, and that to be charged against the South Island system £736,525.