JUNE 10, 2010, 4:13 P.M. ET.

U.S. Firms Hold Most Cash Since 1952

By JUSTIN LAHART

U.S. companies are holding more cash in the bank than at any point in the past 58 years, underscoring persistent worries about the sustainability of the economic recovery and the potential for a renewed financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that non-financial companies had socked away $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets as of the end of March, up 26% from a year earlier and the largest increase on records going back to 1952. Cash made up about 7% of all company assets including factories and financial investments, the highest level since 1963.

While renewed confidence in corporate-bond markets has allowed big companies to raise a record amount of money, many are still hesitant to spend the money on hiring and expansion amid doubts about the strength of the recovery. They're also anxious to keep cash on hand in case Europe's debt troubles lead to a new market freeze.

"Cash is still king," says Jeff Hand, chief operating officer at Ross Controls, a Troy, Mich., maker of pneumatic valves and other products that is holding more cash as it struggles to recover from a sharp drop in business last year. "We're coming out of that, but the uncertainty is still there."

Ross cut its U.S. staff by about a third last year, and has hired back only a small fraction, he says.

The rising cash balances could represent a longer-term shift in corporate behavior in the wake of the worst financial crisis in decades. In the darkest days of late 2008, even large companies faced the threat that they wouldn't be able to do the everyday short-term borrowing needed to make payrolls and purchase inventory.

"We just went through this liquidity crunch that's made them realize the value of a dollar in hand," says Duke Fuqua School of Business economist John Graham. Even now, banks are pulling back: The Fed reported Thursday that net lending by the financial sector fell at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1 trillion in the first quarter from fourth quarter, the fifth straight quarterly decline.

Still, the comfort of having cash on hand comes at a high price. Companies are earning almost no interest on their holdings of cash. That will put pressure on companies to pare down the cash holdings eventually.

"Stockholders don't want them to keep sitting on cash at a zero return," says Paul Kasriel, an economist at Northern Trust. "They're going to use it," either to increase hiring and investment or to make payouts to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buybacks, he says.

In a recent survey of company chief financial officers that Mr. Graham conducted with CFO Magazine, he found that companies expect capital spending to increase by 9% over the next year, compared to 1.5% when he asked the question in December. They expect employment to grow by a meager 0.7%, compared to a 1.4% drop they expected six months ago.

Cash has piled up at Hooker Furniture Corp., based in Martinsville, Va. The company has seen increasing demand for the upholstered furniture it makes in the U.S., which usually leads demand for the other furniture it imports from China, but it's being cautious nonetheless.

When it reported results Monday, the company said it had $38.7 million in cash and other highly liquid assets on its balance sheet in its fiscal quarter ended May 2, up from $26.2 million a year earlier.

"We're a fairly conservative company, and keeping our powder dry makes sense to use," says Hooker Furniture chief financial officer E. Larry Ryder.

Mr. Ryder says he sees the cash as a sort of insurance fund to make sure he can buy the raw materials and other inventory he'll need to meet demand if business picks up. The company has cut its inventories to $38.5 million from $47.1 million over the past year.

"We don't want to tie our cash up to the point that we don't have the liquidity we need to accumulate inventory when we need it," says Mr. Ryder.

Meanwhile, U.S. household debt fell for the seventh straight quarter in the first three months of 2010 as Americans continued to respond to the recession's fallout.

Household debt fell at a 2.5% annual rate to $13.54 trillion in the first quarter. The household sector's debt level, which includes both consumer credit and mortgage loans, remained at about 20% of total assets in the first quarter. The ratio is down from a peak of around 22.5% in the first quarter of 2009, but still well above a ratio of about 15% in the mid-1990s.

Excessive debt-financed spending was one of the causes of the recent recession. After living beyond their means, Americans were stung and are paring back their debt. While that may be good for the long-term health of the economy, it has kept a lid on consumer spending, a key engine for economic growth.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday said he expects the U.S. economy to continue recovering from the worst recession since the 1930s only slowly, with consumer spending growing at just a moderate pace.

The Fed report showed that U.S. households' total net worth, meantime, climbed 2%, to $54.57 trillion.

Household net worth is assets, such as home equity, minus liabilities, such as mortgage debt. The gain in wealth came as holdings in corporate equities and mutual funds picked up.

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