20 THECUBAREVIEW 



CONDITION OF THE CUBAN CENTRAL RAILWAYS. LTD. 



ALMOST ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON SUGAR, BUT THE POSITION OF THE 



COMPANY IS STRONG 



A noteworthy feature of the last few years has been the greater diversity of traffic 

 over the Cuban Central Railway, for although some SO per cent of the total freight traffic 

 still consists of sugar, sugar-cane and molasses, the Company now has a fair general 

 traffic, which is steadily growing in importance, and has also a good and steadily increas- 

 ing passenger business. The nature of the freight traffic will be appreciated from the 

 summary appended : 



FREIGHT TRAFFIC CUBAN CENTRAL RAILWAYS 



1911-13 1910-11 1909-10 1908-09 1907-08 1906-07 



Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons 



Sugar cane 1,799,372 1,284,203 1,562,456 1,311,799 849,534 1,474,654 



Sugar . . ." 307,581 304,935 329,758 289,459 189,956 296,630 



Molasses 66,821 75,064 79,958 84,147 50,790 63,274 



Timber and firewood 75,342 82,359 69,331 51,579 50,645 54,623 



Building Materials 86,932 93,561 77,363 51,319 59,167 61,781 



Tobacco 18,909 13,295 18,434 25,402 8,797 8,570 



Machinery 7,573 9,060 5,554 4,669 5,503 4,830 



Rum 7,215 6,079 6,533 6,063 7,671 5,401 



Maize 3,716 3,213 2,618 2,793 2,796 2,045 



Fruit and vegetables 5,405 3,119 2,557 4,601 2,436 1,168 



General goods, etc 232,122 215,160 195,778 169,354 175,158 174,683 



Total goods traffic 2,610,988 2,090,048 2,350,340 2,001,185 1,402,453 2,147,659 



Receipts i350,554 £318,913 £328,371 £308,805 £234,169 £294,176 



The income from passengers and from baggage, parcels, etc., also shows a marked 



increase during the last decade. The figures follow : 



Total Total 



Passengers Receipts Passengers Receipts 



1911-12 494,043 148,348 1906-07 805,378 129,251 



1910-11 851,902 140,198 1905-06 797,360 113,297 



1909-10 809,210 135,515 1904-05 703,062 93,851 



1908-09 763,713 122,387 1903-04 531,183 75,590 



1907-08 773,785 121,469 1902-03 498,127 65,232 



The position of the Company is, therefore, relatively strong, and, although the Cuban 

 sugar industry may be said to be on the crest of a wave of prosperity, the immediate 

 outlook appears to be promising, and the future of the Company, especially having regard 

 to the new mileage recently constructed and brought into use, is certainly hopeful. Suf- 

 ficient time has not yet elapsed to enable the new extensions to be fully remunerative, but, 

 as they tap a fertile cane disrict, a considerable growth in traffic may be expected as 

 development proceeds. The all-rail route from Havana, which has so far produced 

 satisfactory results, is, moreover, likely to further add to the Company's prosperity. It 

 looks, therefore, as though the corner had been turned, and that shareholders are about 

 to receive a more adequate return upon their capital, which up to now has certainly not 

 been of a brilliant character. The average annual distribution since the Company com- 

 menced operations in 1899 has been at the rate of under 1 per cent per annum, and the 

 highest dividend yet paid has been only 2 per cent, which was paid in 1911-12 and the 

 two preceding years. 



The London Statist, a recognized financial authority, recently drew attention to the 

 speculative possibilities of the company's £10 ordinary shares at the prevailing price of 

 about £4%, although the quotation has risen recently to £4%. 



The near approach of the publication of the annual report has revived market talk of 

 a probable increase in the dividend, and the general expectation appears to be that 4 

 per cent will be distributed on account of the past twelvemonth, against 2 per cent for 

 1911-13 and the two preceding years. The position of the Company is interesting, and 

 from the data available it is clear that the present hopeful dividend anticipations are by 

 no means exaggerated. Last year, it will be recollected, the Company earned a profit 

 for the Ordinary of over £43,000, a sum equal to a dividend of nearly 5 per cent on the 

 shares. Only 2 per cent was, however, distributed, and the whole of the surplus, amount- 



