Abelló Linde Centenary Book

APPARENT NORMALITY
he information about these war years comes, chiefly, from the balances
Tand the inventory book that have been kept. The evolution of the main
items may give us some idea of how the company was doing.
Balance of the Company Abelló, Oxígeno-Linde SA (in thousands of pesetas)
1935 1636 1937 1938 1939
Credit
Liquid assets 505 479 463 873 394
Public bonds 676 666 666 666 666
Stockholdings 333 333 333 333 349
Tubes 1,514 1,513 1,496 1,496 1,733
Machinery 848 855 856 826 856
Immovable assets 342 342 343 343 343
Customers 505 406 414 464 401
Debit
Suppliers 174 132 123 196 170
Depreciations 2,441 2,520 2,500 2,425 2,337
Equity 2,518 2,579 2,579 2,579 2,513
What is surprising to begin with is the apparent normality of the company,
seen through the closures of three financial years – 1936, 1937 and 1938 – in
times of war.
The number of customers, which indicates the orders served pending
payment, drops, but relatively. It is an indication that production was maintained,
was sold and was paid for. The number of debtors rises, but not much – 173,000
pesetas in 1938.
The portfolio of public funds is maintained wholly intact, and that of shares
as well.
The production equipment is represented by the machinery and the bottles.
The former is kept and the investment in bottles rises. There is no variation in the
land owned, occupied by the factories in Barcelona and Valencia, both of them
under the control of the republican government.
Results were positive except for 1938, which closed with losses, though
moderate:
Results (in ptas.)
1936 76,553 *
1937 146,999 *
1938 –14,688 *
The civil war and the start of the second world war (1936-1939) 89