Profits may be off but our pride in the product remains. We continue to have a larger "news hole" - the portion of the paper devoted to news - than any comparable paper. In 1990, the proportion rose to 52.3% against 50.1% in 1989. Alas, the increase resulted from a decline in advertising pages rather than from a gain in news pages. Regardless of earnings pressures, we will maintain at least a 50% news hole. Cutting product quality is not a proper response to adversity.
获利虽然缩水，但我们对于产品依然感到骄傲，比起其它相同规模的报纸，我们拥有超高的新闻比率-新闻占报纸所有版面的比率，从1989年的50.1%增加为52.3%，只可惜增加的原因是因为广告量的减少，而不是新闻版面的增加，虽然受到盈余不小的压力，但我们还是会坚持50%的新闻比率，降低产品的品质不是身处逆境最好的应对方式。
he news at Fechheimer, our manufacturer and retailer of uniforms, is all good with one exception: George Heldman, at 69, has decided to retire. I tried to talk him out of it but he had one irrefutable argument: With four other Heldmans - Bob, Fred, Gary and Roger - to carry on, he was leaving us with an abundance of managerial talent.
接下来是我们制服的制造与销售商费区海默的好消息，除了一个坏消息之外，那就是69岁的George Heldman决定要退休，我曾经试着说服他，不过他有一项令人无法拒绝的理由，因为他留下了其它四位Heldmans家族的成员-Bob、Fred、Gary与Roger做接班。
Fechheimer"s operating performance improved considerably in 1990, as many of the problems we encountered in integrating the large acquisition we made in 1988 were moderated or solved. However, several unusual items caused the earnings reported in the "Sources" table to be flat. In the retail operation, we continue to add stores and now have 42 in 22 states. Overall, prospects appear excellent for Fechheimer.
费区海默的经营绩效在1990年又大幅增进，因为先前在1988年大型的购并所产生的问题已逐渐获得解决，然而由于几个特殊的事件使得我们今年的盈余表现平平，在零售的部份，我们持续地拓展店面，目前在全美22个州拥有42家店，总言之，我们对于费区海默的前景仍然相当看好。
At Scott Fetzer, Ralph Schey runs 19 businesses with a mastery few bring to running one. In addition to overseeing three entities listed on page 6 - World Book, Kirby, and Scott Fetzer Manufacturing - Ralph directs a finance operation that earned a record $12.2 million pre-tax in 1990.
轮到史考特飞兹，Ralph Schey经营19家企业的手法比起一般人经营一个还娴熟，除了后面所叙述的三家企业-世界百科全书、寇比吸尘器与史考特飞兹制造公司之外，Ralph甚至还掌管一家年税前获利1,220万美元的财务公司。
Were Scott Fetzer an independent company, it would rank close to the top of the Fortune 500 in terms of return on equity, although it is not in businesses that one would expect to be economic champs. The superior results are directly attributable to Ralph.
如果史考特飞兹是一个独立的集团，它在财富五百大股东权益报酬率的排名一定能名列前茅，虽然它所处的产业很难出现耀眼的明星，但这些难得的成绩全都要归功于Ralph。
At World Book, earnings improved on a small decrease in unit volume. The costs of our decentralization move were considerably less in 1990 than 1989 and the benefits of decentralization are being realized. World Book remains far and away the leader in United States encyclopedia sales and we are growing internationally, though from a small base.
世界百科全书，虽然销售数量略微下滑，但盈余却变佳，1990年因分散决策中心的做法所须负担的成本较1989年减少，而其所带来的效益却逐渐显现，世界百科全书在全美百科全书销售中依旧独占鳌头，至于海外市场方面虽然基础规模较小，但却持续地成长中。
Kirby unit volume grew substantially in 1990 with the help of our new vacuum cleaner, The Generation 3, which was an unqualified success. Earnings did not grow as fast as sales because of both start-up expenditures and "learning-curve" problems we encountered in manufacturing the new product. International business, whose dramatic growth I described last year, had a further 20% sales gain in 1990. With the aid of a recent price increase, we expect excellent earnings at Kirby in 1991.
受惠于新款的真空吸尘器，寇比在1990年的销售数量大增，第三代的推出无疑是一大胜利，由于先期开发成本与新产品制造所面临的学习曲线问题，使得获利增加不若营收成长的幅度，海外市场方面相较于去年爆炸性的成长，今年再度有20%的成长，而由于最近产品价格再度调涨，我们预期寇比在1991年的获利应该会更好。