operations, especially coal, to carry the 1970 earnings figures above those of 1969. Blackwater results are almost certain to improve. Coal shipments at Navajo will increase substantially. Last year they did not come up to expectations because the new generating unit completed in May has only recently performed on a sustained basis at rated capacity because of difficulties in the ash disposal system. Hopefully these are now or soon will be corrected and the second unit scheduled for 1970 will be free of this problem. Recently we reported First Quarter earnings of 49 a share, a new record for the quarter but up only l a share from last year. This modest increase is not indicative of the profit improvement that we expect for the year as a whole, for quarterly comparisons in our business can be misleading. Whether an ore cargo is shipped on the last day of the quarter or the first day of the next quarter can materially affect results. The profit improvement in the first quarter was held below the annual rate we anticipate primarily by lower earnings reported for uranium, Pima, Marcona, and the absence or earnings from operations discontinued by sale to Fluor last year. Uranium earnings, expected to be higher for the year as a whole, were below last year's first quarter for two reasons: first, because we stockpiled a substantial part of the first quarter production this year for delivery to private buyers later in the year, and second, on government sales this year we received prices of $5 a pound for the quarter while last year we received $8 a pound during the first two months on Atomic Energy Commission sales, Pima expects to have higher earnings this year than last and its profits before tax were higher in the first quarter of Utah's fiscal year. However, a year-end tax adjustment -14-