STOCK DIVIDENDS

11

TaBLE 7.— Disposition of approximate total distributable surplus for 2,971 corpora
tions paying stock dividends

FIRST 7-YEAR PERIOD

Item

Burplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1013_____________.______..._._.._.___
Net increase in surplus from date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1013, to date of
closing nearest Jan. 1, 1920_____ a

Total undistributed surplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1920. _.
Cath dividends, 2013-1010 ee rrenwmr enn mene memo eae—~—t omen
Stock dividends, 1913=-Y019_- = _______. Co RRA
Other dividends, 1913-1919 _ __.___._____ of

Total surplus available for distribution, 1913-1919

“mene

Amount

$1, 107, 174, 332

1, 768, 550. 302

2, 875, 724, 634
1, 674, 414, 382
408, 049, 789
66, 947, 676
5. 025, 136. 481 |

Per cent
of total
surplus
available
for distribution


C23
32
12
-33
100. 00

SECOND 7-YEAR PERIOD

svnd——

[tem

®

Surplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1920. «coc memeom meee eee ns
Net increase in surplus from date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1020, to date of
closing nearest Jan. 1. 1927 coco ooo eee eee

Total undistributed surplus as of date of closing nearest Jan. 1, 1927.
Cash dividends, 1920-1927... «ocean.
Btock dividends, 1920-1927...
Other dividends, 1920 -1927___.

Total surplus available for distribution, 1920-1927 __

Amount

$2, 875, 724, 634
317. 844. 107

3,193, 568, 741
2, 896, 285, 432
2, 350, 246, 652
19, 508, 295
8, 459, 609, 120

Per cent
of total
Sarnia
available
for distribution


37.75
34. 24
27.78
7
100. 00

The total surplus of these 2,971 corporations which was available
for distribution from 1913-1919 aggregated just over $5,000,000,000,
of which almost exactly one-third (33.32 per cent) was distributed
in the form of cash dividends as compared with over 8 per cent in
stock dividends. In the period 1920-1926 the total surplus available
for distribution rose nearly 70 percent to approximately $8,500,000,000.
While stock dividends paid in the second period aggregated nearly
28 per cent of this surplus, as compared with only 8 per cent in the
prior period, the proportion of surplus distributed in cash dividends
in the second period was only slightly higher (34.24 per cent) than
in the first period (33.32 per cent). At the end of the second period,
therefore, these corporations retained undistributed nearly 38 per
cent of the total surplus available for distribution, whereas at the
end of the first period over 57 per cent of the surplus was undistributed.

Considering the matter from the standpoint of the surpluses
attributable to the operation of these corporations in each period,
about $3,900,000,000 were earned or obtained through surplus
adjustments in the first seven years as compared with $5,600,000,000.
in the second seven years. In the first seven years the equivalent of
42.7 per cent of the surplus attributable to this period was distributed
in cash and 10 per cent in stock, while 45 per cent was not distributed