§ 55. Sir HARRY BRITTAINasked the Postmaster-General what was the profit made during the past year by the telephone and telegraph section of the General Post Office; and how that compares with the profit of five years ago?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI am not quite clear what my hon. Friend means by profit, but on the assumption that he means the surplus which in a commercial company would be available for payment of interest charges after providing for maintenance, depreciation and operating costs, the figures for the combined telephone and telegraph services are as follow:
| 1921–1922 | … | Deficit, | £1,573,115 |
| 1926–1927 | … | Surplus, | £2,968,921 |
§ In the interval a sum estimated at £3,000,000 has been returned to telephone subscribers in the form of reduced charges.