Page:Hints About Investments (1926).pdf/148

 those sums are deducted out of the revenue of the company, in order to provide for depreciation of property through wear and tear and obsolescence, for decline in the prices of investments, and for default, whole or partial, on the part of debtors. The result of the process is that the figures at which the assets affected stand in the balance-sheet are reduced and so the margin between liabilities and assets, which constitutes the balance available for distribution, is reduced likewise.

This one shows the imposing total of over a million and a quarter of gross profit, from sales of the company's product, less the cost of producing and conveying it and the charges made by the Inland Revenue for excise duty and brewing licences. A curious inquirer would have liked to see a little more—to have been told what was the sum of the gross sales and how much was taken off under each of the headings into which the expenses were divided. The answer of the Directors would no doubt be that they cannot be expected to give away information which might be valuable to their rivals. This answer must be accepted under present conditions. Perhaps the day will come when the growing curiosity of Labour concerning the nature and extent of profit, and the emphasis now laid on profit sharing