G. M. C. Melon

G.M.C. Melon

Casually, almost with nonchalance, an under executive of the General Motors Corp. passed out to newspaper men assembled on the 22nd floor of the offices at 57th St. & Broadway, Manhattan, last week, a typwritten sheet "known in newspaper patois as a "handout," a "canned" statement (opprobrious terms suggesting little or no news value).

It announced, almost as casually, that the corporation would pay to owners of their 17,400,000 shares (E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. own 25%) $65,250,000. In this amount, largest ever disbursed to shareholders at one time by any industrial concern, was a bonus of $2.50 for each share besides the regular quarterly dividend of $1.25.

General Motors' earnings have been potent this year.*A silent, motionless unmarketed Ford has helped their heyday. Characteristic was their method of passing them on to stockholders. "Extras" (bonuses), said the directors' statement, will be continued. The policy is contrary to that of some other mammoth U. S. corporations. Recently Walter Sherman Gifford, president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., frowned on "melons" (TIME, Oct. 31). "Put the extra money back into the business for expansion and development," was his explanation to his 420,000 disappointed stockholders.

The market reaction to the G. M. statement was slight; its news had been largely discounted through expectation. Yet the stock promptly moved up 2% points.

As this was happening President Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. was looking after his luggage, having just returned from Europe. There he found that the corporation was selling more cars in Germany than in any other foreign country. He expects G. M. C. to earn between $223,000,000 and $225,000,000 this year.

*For the nine months ended Sept. 30: $193,758,302 (TIME, Nov. 7).