A PROFITABLE YEAR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24685, 14 August 1941, Page 8

A PROFITABLE YEAR

POST AND TELEGRAPH SERVICE SAVINGS BANK DEPOSITS INCREASE OF THREE MILLION (0.C.) WELLINGTON. Aug. 13. An excess of £767,201 of receipts over expenditure for the year ended March 31, 1941, is shown in the annual report of the Post and Telegraph Department, which was presented in theHouse of Representatives to-day. Ihe report shows that the revenue was £5,106,193 and the payments for working expenses were £4,338,902. The revenue exceeded that of the previous year by £312,502. „ , The Post Office Savings Bank deposits were £28,607,222, compared with £25,151,287 in the previous yep, a rise of £3,455,935, and the interest credited to depositors was £1,666,709. The withdrawals were £25,319,146. against £29,462.838 the year before, a fall of £4,143,692. The amount at the credit of depositors at March 31 was £62,956,787, equal to an increase of £4,954,785 over the balance a year earlier. The number of accounts at March 31 was 992,792, a rise of 32,227 for the year. . “Nearly 1405 of the departments officers have been released for service with the forces overseas up to the end of the year," the report says. There was a gratifying response to the Post Office Patriotic Fund established in March, 1940. The amount paid in the first year from the fund to the national and provincial patriotic funds was £6OOO. Air Mall Services . • “The trans-Tasman air service has proved most valuable, particularly in view of the concentration of the New Zealand Forces in the Middle East,” the report continues. “For the 11 months ended March 31, 1941, a total of 34,464 pounds of New Zealand mail was despatched by the service and 31,560 pounds of mail for New Zealand was received. The average weight of mail carried on each trip was 600 pounds.” : The report adds that from its inauguration in July, 1940, until the end of March this year the mail despatched by the trans-Pacific air service was 8619 pounds, and the mail received weighed 9001 pounds. The sales of national savings bonds to March 31 represented £611,709. The Post Office - had handled about £95,000,000 on behalf of other departments. ' ' Motor Vehicle Registrations The motor vehicles licensed at March 31 totalled 311,641, a decrease of 3879 on the previous year’s total. The registrations during the year were 15,551, a decrease of 14,219. The total amount of motor registration fees collected was £572.489, a decrease of £30,470. The report records that radio licences at March 3l totalled 355,480, an increase of 9770. There were 16,700 new telephone subscribers, bringing the total to 171.965 main stations subscribers. ,