Palestine’s economic structure is being strengthoned by the steady development of industry and agriculture, it is indicated in the 19th annual report of the Palestine Economic Corporation, made public today by Robert Szold, chairman of the board of directors.
The consolidated balance sheet of the Corporation for the year 1944 shows a net profit of $78,392,71 or $7,56 per share of common stock outstanding on December 31, 1944. The reports submitted to stockholders are prepared on an accrual basis and include undistributed profits of wholly-owned Palestine subsidiaries.
To provide increased capital “to expand and implement its program,” the report explains, a prospectus for the sale of $1,500,000 additional common stock, consisting of 15,000 shares priced at $100 per share, has been issued; subscriptions to this stock reached $676,693,98 par value by June 30, 1945.
Reflecting the corporation’s policy of assisting in the sound growth of the country along approved social and economic lines, the report outlines the long-range projects of its subsidiary companies, with partioular emphasis on plans for the construction and financing of low-cost homes to meet the housing shortage.
During the past two decades, the report adds, approximately 1,200 homes, 500 in urban and suburban areas and 700 in rural towns and villages, have been erected and financed for immigrants and residents of limited means by the Palestine Mortgage and Credit Bank, Ltd., a subsidiary of the Palestine Economic Corporation.
The Central Bank of Cooperative Institutions in Palestine, Ltd., an affiliate of the Palestine Economic Corporation, closed the year with undistributed profits amounting to $36,000 and a general reserve of $190,000. The bank grants loans to coperative societies of all types, urban and rural. Seasonal loans are mainly for the purchese of agricultural requisites, while intermediate and long-term loans often are for expansion of mixed-farming, dairy-breeding and irrigation.
The Palestine Water Company, Ltd. another subsidiary of the Palestine Economic Corporation, sold a total of 2,850,000,000 gallons of water in 1944, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year. “Palestine Potash, Ltd., in which the Palestine Economic Corporation is a substantial stockholder, maintained heavy production of potash and other chemicals in 1944,” the report states.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
