The importance of the Palestine Economic Corporation for the development of private enterprise in Israel and the furtherance of private American investment was stressed at a directors’ meeting of the corporation held here today.
During 1954 the corporation raised over $3,000,000 in new private investment capital and its enterprises in Israel are now employing approximately 5,000 people in industry, finance and agriculture, it was reported at the meeting A dividend of 50 cents per share was declared. The corporation’s 9,000 stockholders will receive approximately $170,000 in dividends which will be paid on March 28.
Robert Szold, chairman of the board of directors, reported that the 1954 earnings of the corporation amounted to $302, 732, after taxes, as compared to $479,188 in 1953. The income reduction was due mainly to the devaluation of the Israel pound in 1954 from $1 to 55 cents. This devaluation reduced dollar income from Israel investments by 45 percent, although the general level of the corporation’s Israel income in Israel pounds was maintained in 1954.
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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.
