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The conversion of Guinness to a public company was very successful As was the company itself.

In 1890, Guinness made getting on for three-quarters of a million quid. A huge amount for the time.

"A. Guinness, Son & Co., Limited.
The directors’ report for the year ended June 30 last states:- “The results of the financial year, after making provision for bad debts, and including dividends on investments and interest on loans, show a profit of £719,665 9s. 9d. This, together with £25,641 15s. 11d. carried forward from the last account, makes a total of £745,307 5s. 8d. After providing for the debenture interest, the dividend on the preference stock, the balance of income tax, and the interim dividend paid in March on the ordinary stock, there remains available for appropriation the sum of £387,284 9s. 2d., as shown in the profit and loss account. The directors propose to apply this sum as follows:— To add £100,000 to the reserve fund and £30,000 to the depreciation fund; and, subject to the approval of the general meeting, to pay to the ordinary stockholders a final dividend of 9 per cent. for the half-year, making, wit the interim dividend of 6 percent. paid March 1 last, a total dividend for the year ended June 30, 1890, of 15 per cent., free of income tax. These payments will absorb £355,000, thus leaving a sum of £32,284 9s. 2d. to be carried forward to the next account. Sir Edward Guinness and the Hon. John Baring retire by rotation.

“Sir Edward Guinness has informed the board, to their great regret, that he cannot offer himself for re-election, as he finds some relief from work to be imperativer necessary. One of his main objects in the formation of the Company was to enable him to withdraw from the active supervision of a business requiring so large an amount of time and constant attention. All matters connected with the change from a private firm to a limited company have now been satisfactorily arranged, and as the Company is working successfully in every way,- Sir Edward feels confident that he can, without detriment to its interest, take the contemplated step of retiring from the management.""
"The Brewers' Guardian 1890", 1890, page 262.
I know Guinness sold around 1.3 million barrels in 1889. meaning they were making almost 11 shillings per barrel. Which is a pretty decent profit. And their sales were still increasing, as you can see from this table.


Guinness sales 1880 - 1890
Extra Stout Porter other total
Year Britain Ireland total Britain Ireland total FES Export total Britain Ireland FES/Export total
1880 207,695 201,348 409,043 2,208 435,127 435,335 53,890 14,796 68,686 209,903 637,475 68,686 916,064
1881 204,073 201,546 405,619 1,686 465,190 457,586 54,739 14,053 68,792 205,759 657,736 68,792 932,317
1882 235,583 230,053 465,636 1,867 515,170 517,037 66,247 15,225 81,472 237,450 745,223 81,472 1,064,145
1883 227,572 201,007 425,579 854 407,681 408,535 57,154 11,817 68,971 228,426 608,688 68,971 906,085
1884 259,481 235,860 495,341 1,765 544,210 545,975 71,122 11,361 82,483 261,246 780,070 82,483 1,123,799
1885 260,488 237,584 495,072 1,923 597,594 599,517 74,538 10,947 85,485 262,411 835,178 85,485 1,183,074
1886 274,294 239,171 513,465 1,394 621,089 622,473 71,707 10,321 82,028 275,678 860,260 82,028 1,217,966
1887 290,501 245,547 536,438 1,274 659,725 660,699 74,501 9,634 84,135 291,775 905,572 84,135 1,282,576
1888 302,145 245,766 547,911 1,208 689,438 690,646 81,660 9,086 90,746 303,353 935,204 90,746 1,329,303
1889 308,223 243,337 551,560 1,054 690,453 691,507 80,690 9,837 90,527 309,277 933,790 90,527 1,333,594
1890 352,109 261,359 613,468 1,257 686,491 687,748 79,335 7,732 87,067 353,666 947,850 87,067 1,368,383
Source:
"A Bottle of Guinness please" by David Hughes, pages 276-279

Happy days for anyone lucky enough to have got hold of some Guinness shares. 15% is a very decent return. Of course, those ordinary shares would have been retained by the directors and family members,

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