ABRAHAM & WILLIAMS, LTD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1610, 29 November 1912, Page 8

ABRAHAM & WILLIAMS, LTD.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. Tha eleventh annual meeting of shareholders of aieissre. Auraham and Williams, Ltd., was held on November 20, these toeing a small attendance of t/ii-axehoideriS. Mr. it. h.- AOrahatm, cJiairnian ol'. directors, presided. . 1 In formally moving the adoption of tho .balance-sheet,, Air. .Abiauain. taid:—"The result of the past years operations must be considered to he i-atialactary, and 1, may hsartily congraitul.'Ue sh-arehojcer.'i• on. i.iiu progress which has.been mace.' Tue sicafly iiicisj..:!! in tlio amount of land devoted to the dairying industry nnvst necesta-rily affect the returns -of a business of this nature, and the fact that we can show an increase of £88,OCO in our stock turnover, and- of close on £50,C00 on our land turnover in the face of this drawback, and notwithstanding the fact that we ore hampered by too small : a capital with which to aupply the rcQUirements of the large slice or' country in which we operate without leaning'too heavily , on our bankers, must be taken as a eatisfactory indication that the general staff of the concern arc giving a full and lively attention' to their duties. "Turning to the balance-£'hcet, 1 regret thHt wo car. chow such a small increase on capital, and' I trust that our shareholders will avail' themselves of the opportunity now offcred'of increasing their investments in tJie concern.

"The result of the year's operations will enable us to increase our reserve fund to £22,003, which is a step in the right direction.:. Our bank account shows a r.mall reduction, and sundries creditors are less by £3279, but. in bills discounted a. heavy increase has been made of eomc £21,000, mainly Owing to present stringency of money market and the high. prices of stock. "Our mortgage account ■ lias increased £6595, being our liability in connection with our new wool store* .Net profits show '£9509, sa against £7650, after deducting the amounts carried'forward and'making full allowance for air bad and doubtful , debts. "On t-lie.pthen side of the ledger sundry debtors show'a reduction of £7268.i.1n our profit, and loss account the only items to which I , need refer are commission account, which shows an increase of £2036, and land commission account, which, notwithstanding tlia-t there has been a larger ■turnover, shows a decrease of £167, which is owing to the fact that the business done with the assistance of other agents, haG been very .heavy. ...

"Our total turnover. in i stock amounts to £858,280. and ju land to £205,337. .'Wool, on the other hand, shows a considerable decroasc. being .1329 bales handled loss than"last year. 'It is to be feared that many of our shareholders .do not Gufiicicntly consider us in this respect. The facilities in Wellington which wo can now offer in the way of showing wool advantageously arc equal to any firm.

"With respect to the general outlook, for our farming coinmunity you .will, I am sure, agree with me that prospects were jiover brighter. All classes of produce arc at high values, with every indication that they are not /.ii|;ely to recede"vary m'tch 1 for the next yearner two.' There is a general shortage of sliesp, with a decrease in wool, which in Australia alone amounts to ,£OO,OCO. bales. On the other hand, .the incroKing earning power- of tho masses it pradit.-iliy .'encouraging a ■ highor standard of livir.i':, whilst the demand for chcaper nsc.it will gradually force the ■ Continental, nations to open th-eir doors to frozen meat."

"Thou again. Mr. Ecddoc, the Canadian Trade Commissioner, has lately emphasised the fact that there is a. great opening for Kew Zealand meat, butter, etc., in. that'' country. This can ,now bo shipped via. Vancouver, and no doubt when the Panama, Canal is opensd Eastern Canada can'ateo be supplied by this country... He points out that Canadians, arc not butter producers, but butter consumers, as in 'their wheat-growing country they could carry but- few. cattle.

"Canada, with a population of 8.CC0.000, lias only. 2,500,000 sheep, against New Zealand, with her population of .1,C00,000 and 24,000,000 sheep. Land irt this country Is at high values, but it. poems almost probable .that prices for our best country have not yet reached their top. Of course, with the expensive lands, a, higher -class of farming is demanded, and more capital required, which shows the necessity for increasing the capital of our own concern.

"Before I conclude I -may make a passing reference to the 'good work done by our officers at all our branches. They are not all equally remunerative, but in the face of the exceptionally keen competition .we have to most I am sure the result must be gratifying. The returns from the Marton and Levin branches and the -Fcilding agency are-exceptionally good." In seconding the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, Mr.. Beckett said that some shareholders would possibly consider 6-per cent, a fairly low percentage for an industrial concern. He might point out, however, that since, he joined the board a few years ago a very considerable amount for goodwill, paid by the company, had been written off. and a substantial reserve of £12,C00 established, which ho considered a very fair amount as a guarantee against any possible, deficiencies in the amounts owed by sundry debtors of. the company. He saw no reason why, the company should not pay 8 to 10 per cent, shortly. ,He was intimately connected with the working of the concern, more esnecially at the Marton branch, where he lived, and he considered the officers of the concern were entitled to very great praiee for the way, they looked after the interests of the company. Mr. Bolton supported the motion, but. considered, tho company should allow the reservo fund to reach £25,000 before they increased their, dividends. After 'the chairman had read, the auditor's renort the report and balance-sheet were adopted. ■ On the motion of the chairman, seconded by Mr. Davies, it was resolved that a dividend of 6 per cent, be declared on the paid-up capital of the company for'the operations of the half year, making, with the interim dividend paid in April last, 6 per cent;- for the . year. Messrs. W. A. Keiller and'H. Toogood were re-elected directors; and Messrs. Rutliorfnrd and Council and Mr. P. L. Sim were reappointed auditors. : On the motion' of Mr. Boltou,' seconded by Mr. Caccia Birch, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the officers of the concern, and oil the motion' ■of Mr. Birch it was resolved that a special vote of appreciation bo'accorded to Mr. Harold E. Abraham, the company's manager at Levin (who has lately resigned in order to take Jip an important nosition Mr. Newton King, of New Plymouth), for the very satisfactory manner in which he had, attended to/the interests of the company as manager at Levin. Tho general manager responded to the resolution on behalf of the staff, which he said was thoroughly deserved, and he gave credit- to the officers of the various branches for. the unselfish way in which they ■ worked ' together, quite .regardlcr:'? of the individual interests of their respective branches as long as the general good of the concern was involved. He pointed out that the- cost- .of .living was now much higher, ind wo must expect- an incrcasj in our trade expenses to enable us to retain our best men. who would otherwise be liable to be drawn away, by offers from other concerns. He honed at the next annual meeting to bo able to show a considerable increase in that capital account, which would enable the camrnr'y to extend their hreimrr, into profitable lines, and so increaro the enming power of tho machine a.nd incidentally better the and salaries of its alfrcra. , Customs duties co!h:tod at the port, of Wellington yarter-Ja;- amounted to £23C3 12s. 2d. ' • '