HC Deb 12 March 1930 vol 236 cc1352-5W
Mr. DAGGAR

asked the President of the Board of Trade the profits of the companies' and local authorities' gas undertakings in Great Britain for the years 1911 to 1929, and the price paid per ton for coal; and similar particulars with regard to the generation of electricity and the production of coke?

Mr. W. R. SMITH

The following tables give the profits of statutory gas undertakings (companies and local authorities) for the years 1911–28 both in elusive, except that no particulars are available for the War years 1914–18, and also similar particulars for the years 1921–28 as regards authorised electricity undertakings (supplied by the Ministry of Transport), there being no official information available in respect of earlier years. No corresponding information as to the coke oven industry is available. As regards the price paid per ton for coal by the undertakings referred to, figures are given below for 1921–28 in respect of electricity undertakings. For the other industries no complete information is available, but some information will be found in the evidence given before the Royal Commission on the Coal Industry, 1925; see Volume 2 of the Report, Evidence Part

Profits of Statutory Gas Undertakings, 1911–1928.
Companies' Undertakings.
Year. Total Capital (Share and Stock) paid up. Total Loan Capital (including debenture stock) issued. Revenue Account.
Receipts. Expenditure. Excess of Receipts over Expenditure.
£ £ £ £ £
1911 … 75,379,271 15,171,809 20,676,711 15,562,901 5,113,810
1912 … 75,941,588 15,376,555 21,876,714 16,869,372 5,007,342
1913 … 76,875,959 15,823,096 22,805,795 18,188,720 4,617,075
*1919 … 81,464,537 17,885,051 42,168,875 38,346,029 3,822,846
1920 … 82,065,243 18,418,665 53,714,841 49,566,608 4,148,233
1921 … 83,063,256 21,104,283 51,870,058 47,588,176 4,281,882
1922 … 83,793,973 22,011,223 46,541,952 39,785,069 6,756,883
1923 … 84,561,849 22,035,911 44,226,797 37,839,199 6,387,598
1924 … 85,537,819 22,544,907 44,293,709 38,756,098 5,537,611
1925 … 86,557,396 22,778,217 43,931,719 38,098,485 5,833,234
1926 … 87,657,953 25,370,284 48,972,181 43,811,615 5,160,566
1927 … 88,581,757 26,135,262 49,885,851 42,574,960 7,310,891
1928 … 89,771,505 29,087,706 45,076,381 38,013,360 7,063,021

Local Authorities' Undertakings.
Year. Total amount of money borrowed. Total amount of loans repaid and balance in Sinking Fund. Revenue Account. Interest paid on loans, amount of loans repaid and amount placed to Sinking Fund during year. Net Surplus.
Receipts. Expenditure. Excess of Receipts over Expenditure.
£ £ £ £ £ £ £
1911–12 42,149,338 15,680,794 10,783,730 7,847,447 2,936,283 1,951,491 984,792
1912–13 42,649,206 16,718,872 11,496,514 8,485,518 3,010,996 1,939,648 1,071,348
1913–14 43,464,112 17,946,271 11,790,584 9,320,809 2,469,775 1,950,941 518,834
*1919–20 46,867,552 23,907,079 21,819,391 19,343,782 2,475,609 2,126,260 349,349
1920–21 48,916,008 25,076,806 27,244,570 24,535,685 2,708,885 2,269,573 439,312
1921–22 53,770,157 26,725,430 26,569,144 25,061,731 1,507,413 2,610,228 1,102,815†
1922–23 57,123,829 28,616,471 24,084,699 19,414,366 4,670,333 2,901,500 1,768,833
1923–24 58,612,494 30,027,099 23,349,561 18,754,701 4,594,860 2,965,295 1,629,565
1924–25 60,323,048 31,746,240 22,416,281 19,131,529 3,281,752 3,026,677 258,075
1925–26 62,652,376 33,426,330 22,110,924 18,810,163 3,300,761 3,053,909 246,852
1926–27 65,996,664 35,070,757 25,729,687 23,161,132 2,568,555 3,210,529 641,974 †
1927–28 68,688,302 37,330,482 24,944,456 21,037,888 3,906,568 3,460,515 446,053
1928–29 70,590,646 38,881,392 23,182,175 18,257,668 4,924,507 3,469,448 1,455,059
* Particulars are not available for the years 1914 to 1918. † Deficit.

A, page 179, and Volume 3, Appendices (page 23), for the f.o.b. prices of gas coal; and Volume 2, Part B, page 843, as to the prices of coal used in coke ovens.

Authorised Electricity Undertakings in Great Britain.
(1) Local Authorities.
Year. Capital Expenditure at end of year. Gross Surplus. Appropriation of Gross Surplus.
Interest. Sinking Funds. Other Purposes.
£ £ £ £ £
1921–22* … … 92,115,513 7,751,580 2,911,053 3,238,828 1,601,699
1922–23 … … 103,477,827 10,805,563 3,291,279 3,748,079 3,766,205
1923–24 … … 113,668,066 11,042,140 3,442,189 4,216,476 3,383,475
1924–25 … … 125,312,527 11,009,356 3,620,905 4,250,183 3,138,268
1925–26* … … 139,205,654 11,609,361 4,045,000 4,500,303 3,064,058
1926–27 … … 152,981,602 10,816,396 4,530,951 4,893,612 1,391,833
1927–28 … … 169,386,684 15,111,261 4,987,503 5,405,181 4,718,577
1928–29 … … 184,743,505 15,498,315 5,437,455 5,737,785 4,323,075

(2) Companies.
Year. Capital Expenditure at end of year. Gross Surplus. Appropriation of Gross Surplus.
Interest. Dividends. Depreciation and other purposes.
£ £ £ £ £
1921* … … 51,600,747 4,062,258 984,141 1,570,957 1,507,160
1922 … … 54,746,509 5,674,529 1,115,014 1,998,477 2,561,038
1923 … … 60,189,998 6,749,547 1,176,635 2,456,029 3,116,883
1924 … … 68,707,131 7,419,509 1,219,829 2,730,409 3,469,271
1925 … … 77,832,652 8,048,361 1,330,036 2,993,944 3,724,381
1926* … … 85,746,032 7,842,238 1,628,738 3,398,230 2,815,270
1927 … … 99,615,409 9,679,558 1,820,525 3,755,547 4,103,486
1928 … … 112,933,507 10,357,553 2,012,058 4,202,758 4,142,737

Coal.
s. d.
*1921–22 … 35 0
1922–23 … 20 5 The average cost per ton of Coal and Coke used in the generating stations of all the authorised electricity undertakings was as indicated, the amount of Coke representing between 1 and 2 per cent. only of the Coal tonnage.
1923–24 … 20 2
1924–25 … 20 8
1925–26 … 18 0 The figures apply to the calendar year in the case of companies and to the year ending 31st March following in the case of local authorities
*1926–27 … 31 2
1927–28 … 17 10
1928–29 … 15 7
* Years of Coal stoppage.