CAPITAL INCOME BUILDER, INC.
333 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, California 90071
Telephone (213) 486-9200
Telecopier (213) 486-9217
Fellow Investors:
We are pleased to report that Capital Income Builder's March dividend will
result in a 3.5% increase in income for most shareholders, continuing the
fund's record of increasing income distributions in every quarter of its
lifetime. Similar to last year, the March 1998 dividend remains equal on a
per-share basis to the December 1997 payment of 48 cents. However, shareholders
who received the December dividend also received a capital gain distribution of
$1.61 per share, which was about 3.5% of the net asset value at the time. For
the vast majority of shareholders, who reinvest their distributions, the
capital gain distribution increased the number of their shares by 3.5%, and
that, in turn, increased their total March 1998 income payment by the same
percentage.
The 3.5% increase in income is the largest quarterly income increase in the
fund's history. For shareholders who reinvest their capital gain distributions,
their March 1998 income is 6.8% greater than that of March 1997. On the basis
of Board action today, the June dividend will increase by 0.5 cents to 48.5
cents a share, and that will provide a 1.0% increase in income over that
received in March 1998.
In the past, CIB has reported to you quarterly. With financial information
available from your adviser or the American Funds Web site at
www.americanfunds.com, the cost of producing quarterly reports no longer
appears justified. We will continue to provide annual and semi-annual reports
and, when warranted, special letters to shareholders.
Cordially,
[/s/ Paul G. Haaga, Jr.] [/s/ James B. Lovelace]
Paul G. Haaga, Jr. James B. Lovelace
Chairman of the Board President of the Fund
March 2, 1998
