RAILWAYS’ DEFICIT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 671, 24 May 1929, Page 18

RAILWAYS’ DEFICIT

LOSS OF £855,000 RISE IN NET EARNINGS fFrom Our Resident Reporter) WELLINGTON, Thursday. A. deficit of £855,344 is shown by the New Zealand railways for the year ended March 31 last. The subsidy from the Consolidated Fund reduces the deficit to £356,408. The loss for the past year is the heaviest ever recorded, except in 1921-22, when there was a deficit of £1,021,000. A working profit of £1,399,656 is shown by the department’s working account for the. year ended March 31, as compared with £1,349,847 in the previous year and £1,498,553 in 1926-27. The amount of interest due to the Consolidated Fund has not yet been stated, but taking the figure given in the Budget last year, £2,255,000, the loss on operation is £855,344. Following is a tabulated statement of the results compared with those for the previous year: Receipts .. 8,0347970 5,249,039 214,069 Expenses . 6,655,123 6,849,383 164,260 Net revenue £1,349,847 £1,399,656 £48,509 Interest .. 2,130,867 2,25 5,000 124,133 Loss . . „ 781,020 855,344 74,324 Subsidy . . 489,568 498,936 "9;368 Deficit . . £391,452 £356,408 £64,956 •Increase in subsidy. .The gross receipts from railway opthe North Island were £4,460,745, which is £103,843 more than in 1927-28, while the working expeuses,_ £ 3,567,442, were higher by only £35,915. The net revenue accordingly increased by £67,928 to £898,303. Revenue from the South Island railwas £3,059,119, an increase of .Pill',, and working expenses £2,807,136, an increase of £36,544. The increase in net revenue by £4O 633 made the year’s total £251,983 The accounts of the subsidiary services—which include road motors, refreshment rooms, dwellings and miscel)aneous_ revenue—show total receipts ±-7 a one 24,7 wi and , tl } e expenses £ 474,805. The respective increases were £33,050 and £91,801, so that the net revenue declined by £SB 751 to £249.370.