FINANCE Oil Firms Start 1956 with Higher Profits Net Income ( in Millions ) 1956
1955
Earnings *1Share 7o Increase
1956
1955
$1.32 $ 12.2 $ 9.8 25 Atlantic Refining Cities Service 18.2 e 14.1 29 1.80 Gulf 69.3 45.3 53 2.47 Phillips 28.3 22.1 28 1.65 Shell 35.0 28.6 22 1.27 Sinclair 24.2 21.2 14 1.68 Socony Mobil 62 52 19 1.77 Standard (Calif.) 61.5 53.1 15 1.95 Standard (Ind.) 41.4 35.0 18 1.23 e Standard (Ohio) 6.5 6.1 7 1.57 Standard ( N . J.) 205 177 16 1.04 Sun Oil 12.3 11.7 ο 1.21 Texas Co. 70.0 56.0 25 2.55 Union Oil 7.0 7.1 —1 0.96 a includes profits of Warren Petroleum for March. " on current number of shares outstanding. c includes $0.9 million ( 2 2 cents a share) of nonrecurring profit.
$1.06 1.426 1.61 1.50 1.04 1.68 1.48 1.68 1.08 1.46 e 0.90* 1.23 2.04 0.94
Starting on a n U p b e a t Oil companies' profits rise with increased produc tion; rubber firms off to a slower first quarter start JDOOSTED OUTPUT is being
translated
into higher profits this year for petro leum producers. Total petroleum con sumption in this country increased 5 V 2 % during the March quarter over
the like period of last year, while t h e rise in foreign consumption was even greater. In reporting a $10 million increase in net for t h e most recent quarter over
last year's first three months, Socony Mobil's president A. L. Nickerson at tributed the rise to "somewhat higher levels of operation in every principal department of t h e business b o t h i n this country and abroad/* Domestic sales were u p 6 % , foreign sales 1 1 % over 1955's first quarter. Similar reports have been turned in by other large producers. Indiana Standard j u m p e d crude production by over 7 % , s a w sales of finished products rise more than 8 % , with the largest per centage gains in jet fuels, chemical products, a n d residual fuels. Standard of California boosted Western Hemis p h e r e c r u d e production 1 1 % and prod uct sales a similar amount. For Jersey Standard, world wide crude production for the first three months came t o 2.3 million barrels daily compared with about 2 . 1 rnillion in 1955, while refin ery runs averaged 2.5 million barrels a d a y against 2.3 million last year. Summing up for t h e industry as a whole, Socony Mobil's Nickerson told stockholders recently, "On balance, the outlook for t h e rest of this year a n d for several years beyond 1956 seems good. D e m a n d for petroleum p r o d u c t s at home a n d a b r o a d is expected t o con tinue t o increase for a long time t o come." > Rubber Shows Less P e p . Not quite so buoyant were reports from the rubber industry. Goodrich, for one, rang u p sales of $180.3 million i n the latest M a r c h quarter, an increase of less than 1 % over a year ago. Net totaled $ 1 0 . 1 million compared with $9.8 million in 1955. U . S. Rubber's net, o n the other hand,
INDEX OF STOCK MARKEY PRICES. RUBBER
PETROLEUM 300-
3 0 0
2 5 0
*245.8
250
236.7
2 0 0
200 Ί82.4
* 182.4
150
150
S E C Composite Index
S E C Composite Index
1O0
3rd Qtr. ( 1 9 5 5 ) 4th Qtr.
2580
C&EN
MAY
2 I,
1st Qtr. ( 1 9 5 6 )
I956
2nd Qtr.
3 r d Qtr. ( 1 9 5 5 )
4th Qtr.
1st Qtr. ( 1 9 5 β )
2 n d Qtr.
ilïii
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; give :y:oic 'à · passlcey to -profi
When research into cyanoethylation began many years ago, its future was unknown. Its real future is still unknown today. B u t chemists are intensifying their investigation to discover new derivatives that may be obtained with acrylonitrile.
nitrile group opens a broad new field for study. Some day the answers to thousands of questions like these will be known. Perhaps from your laboratories will come some of the answers t h a t will result in new and profitable products.
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Nothing contained herein shall be construed as a recommendation produce or use any product in coixflict with existing patents.
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FINANCE declined over 8% from last year's ini tial quarter to $9.1 million, although sales increased to $229.6 million, u p from $225.2 million a year earlier. Nevertheless, "business is good," says chairman H. E. H u m p h r e y s , "and we look forward to setting new records in both sales and profits for the year as a whole/' Despite lower automobile pro duction, he estimates sales this year of close to $1 billion. Previous best sales record was $925.5 million attained last year.
Rohm' & Haas Stock for Sale Rohm & Haas h a s registered 79,213 shares of common stock a n d 4810 pre ferred shares with SEC; the shares will b e offered to the public by t h e Government, At recent prices, they will h a v e a value of between $ 3 5 mil lion a n d $40 million. These shares represent part of t h e 34.5% of Rohm & Haas stock owned by German citizens (largely heirs of c o m p a n y cofounder Otto R o h m ) and
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w i t h the A Q U A - L A B pressure WATER DEMINERALIZER H E A V Y A L U M I N U M C O N S T R U C T I O N of outer shell takes pressure up to 100 lbs. Unit can remain connected directly to water source even when outlet valve is turned off, without danger oF ruptured cartridge or leakage. READY FOR I N S T A N T USE because the connection to the water source remains unbroken A reserve of demineralized water is retained at all times. SIMPLE O P E R A T I O N — I O N - E X C H A N G E Principle! Replaceable cartridge filled with special resins prevents minerals normally found in tap water from reaching water outlet. M O R E E C O N O M I C A L ! Cartridge used in water containing 50 ppm (as of CaCos) provides approximately 4 5 0 gallons of high purity water. F O O L P R O O F ! Mineral detector eliminates guesswork by auto matically switching off, warning that the long-life cartridge finally needs replacement. PORTABLE! Hooks up directly to the water line, or can be put on a metal stand (which is supplied) where rubber hose can be attached to water faucet.
A Q U A - L A B unit, complete with mineral detector, re ducing value, sauge, hose, faucet coupling, metal stand (for permanent installation cr portable use) and Ion Exchange Cartridge each $72.50 A Q U A - L A B Ion Exchange Cartridges each $12.00 (LABORATORY MODEL Cartridge will remove ap proximately 1 3 0 0 grains in mineral content of tap water.)
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_ x LABORATORY // TOi APPARATUS " REAGENTS AND CHEMICALS
2582
C&EN
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EQUIV. IMODEL 1 & SIZE CAPACITY B.H.P. PRESSURE V O L T A G E P H A S E 3KW
.3
4KW 18KW
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ES-3 ES-4 1 ES-18
m'Ê.
lb$. 1 1 0 V A C or single D C or 220V A C 0 - 1 0 0 lb», 2 2 0 V A C single 0 - 1 0 0 lb$, 2 2 0 V A C three 0-75
other sizes available on request
TANDARD n CIENTIFICJ^ft
MAY
2 1, 1956
m
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3 4 West 4 t h Street N e w York 12, Ν . Υ
seized by the Government in 1942. Most of the seized stock was sold p u b licly in 1949, when the firm's stock first went into public hands. The stock the Justice Department now plans to sell amounts to about 7.8% of the outstanding shares. Com pany officers and directors own about 5 6 % of the common stock, including 22% owned by president Otto H a a s .
• Stock splits of two shares for one have been approved by shareholders of both Standard Oil of California and Ameri can Metal. I n each case, t h e splits mean increased dividends. Standard plans to pay quarterly dividends of 45 cents on its new stock, compared with a rate of 75 cents on the old. American Metal has declared a quarterly pay ment of 30 cents on its split shares; rate on the old stock was 50 cents. Also now approved are two-for-one splits of Minnesota Mining a n d of Texaco com mon shares. • Minnesota Mining has increased the quarterly payment on its present shares by 5 cents to 50 cents with the dividend payable June 12. • W. R. Grace directors have increased the regular quarterly dividend to 60 cents from 50 cents a common share with the payment to b e dispersed June 11. President J. Peter Grace told the company's annual 'meeting that -earn ings improvements this year are above those anticipated for 1956, with an up ward trend in chemical earnings despite a market weakness for agricultural chemicals. • Dow Chemical has boosted its quarterly dividend 5 cents to 30 cents a share with the next payment, due July 13. • Standard Oil (Ohio) has declared a 2 0 % stock dividend a n d raised its quarterly common dividend 2 1 / 2 cents to 6 2 1 / 2 cents a share. • Marathon Corp. has arranged to borrow $95 million from insurance companies a n d banks. Of this amount, $40 million will b e used t o repay out standing loans, the rest for expansion, including a pulp and paper mill at Naheola, Ala., expected to cost between $40 and $50 million. • L. O. F. Glass Fibers Co. will redeem all of its 5 1 / 2 % convertible debentures on June 15. With completion of the redemption, all the company's funded indebtedness will b e retired.
