f shift operation with a 6 ading overburden into a 5 n truck in an open pit iron ore mine ot iron moun jin in iron county utoh l pany is engaged in stri erty for the colorado ru at right looking out from the portal of the i tunnel which was constructed for k ation driving was starl 1 948 and the tunnel was completed early this year utah construction company letter to the stockholders financial position the fiscal year which ended october 31 1953 was one of the best in the long history of our company the company and its consolidated subsidiaries earned a net profit after taxes of 2,110,307 which was equal to 12.02 per share this compared with 1,915,818 or 10.92 per share earned in the last fiscal year the gain in net profits of 194,489 resulted primarily from a substantial improvement in earnings from construction contracts profit margins were substantially higher than those experienced last year due largely to the fact that in 1952 our construction earn ings were depressed by heavy losses on a large contract in california this contract was completed shortly after the close of the last fiscal year and had only a minor effect on our earnings for 1953 the resulting restoration to normal profit margins for construction work more than offset the decline that we experienced in mining profits which were below those of the preceding year because of a combination of lower export shipments and rising costs while mining profits were below those of 1952 they nevertheless were at satisfactory levels and continue to repre sent an excellent return to the company on its investment our profits as reported take no account of your company's share of earnings of those subsidiary or affiliated com panies whose operating results are not consolidated with those of the parent company however based on reports furnished by these companies some of which are unaudited your company's share of these subsidiary and affiliated earnings would have exceeded 800,000 in keeping with past practice these earnings will not be included in our statements until they are actually received as dividends or other disbursements the company is in a strong financial condition our net working capital at the close of the fiscal year totaled 6,157,791 which was fully adequate for the volume undertaken at the close of the year the company through its banking facilities had available but not in use a revolving credit of 3,000,000 investments in during the year the company increased its net investments in affiliated companies by 2,104,897 to a total of affiliated 4,353,232 a major portion of this increase resulted from our investment in affiliates concerned with the mining companies selling and shipping of ore from marcona iron ore deposit in southern peru your company in association with cyprus mines corporation has acquired a major interest in the following companies