ABRAHAM & WILLIAMS LIMITED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 60, 5 December 1918, Page 8

ABRAHAM & WILLIAMS LIMITED

['ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS [ :' The adjourned annual meeting of Abra? • ' ham, and Williams, Ltd., was-held at i . the registered office of the company, Pal- ' merston North, on' Monday last. There • was a good' attendance of shareholders. ; ■"""'■'. '', Directors' Report, , . [ '""The directors' report for the year end-* 1 ,'.eel September 80 was read/as follows:— ' The set return for the year, after maki ing. full allowance for all expenses of '' management, taxation, bad and doubtful ! debts, 10 per' cent, war bonus to staff, • allowance to officers at the front, etc., ' ' amounts to .£12,485 45.'2 d., to which must i'bo added the sum of ..£4307 14s. lid., ; • brought forward from Inst year, malting :" :; a total'of .£16,792 15s. Id. for distn- ! i bution. Tour directors report that a ; i dividend flt the rate of 6 per cent, per ! annum: has been paid on. the amount oi I ,the,paid-up capital.of preference shares, 1 -Tind'they'recommend that a dividend at 1 the rate of-8 per cent, per annum on the amount of the paid-up capital of the i ■ ordinary' shares of the company bo de- ', dared for the'twelve months just ended, ! ' of which the sum of .£5128 3s. .by way i of interim dividend was paid for the r half-year ended .March 31 last. Taxa- : tion for the year amonnted to £6ilb las. : 6d., and has been paid out of revenue, ' leaving taxation reserve account ai •'• .£10,01)0, ana .£SOOO has been transferred I to dividend equalisation reserve account. ; The balance, ,£1476 Ss. 2<1., will be car- ; vied forward.' Our estimate, of taxation : for , the current, year approximates . .£BOOO, which is fully covered by the tax- : ation reserve account. The -new busii ness instituted ; at T»umarunm and Iβ ■ Kuiti in the King Coiinh'y is proving remunerative, and a further extension ''■ of onr business to the fine field offered • ■'et Eaetihi'has now been arranged, and -'suitable premises, have been acquired. ■ The' company is now Represented at .the' ■front and in camp, or just going info i camp, by 36 members of the staff. Duri ' in" the year your board regret to re- ■ cord that Sergeants Jamieson/and AshL well, /Lance-Corporals' Mellmish and ..Tonks lave been killed, whilst lieuten■Sant T. Thomas nlid Lieutenant| Strang '- are prisoners of war. -lieutenant Thomas ; and Lieutenant B. H. Buchanan have :,been awarded the Military Cross, and - • Corporal Mexted the Military, Medal. ;; Sergeant-Major Judd, ■ Battery-Sergeant- :' Major Bryan, Sergeant La Roche and i- Private J. Johnston have returned, after ■ having;been wounded. Your directors h desire to express ( their deep sense ;of ;•'■ the heavy loss the' company' has sustained in the untimely death of Mr'Ormond |. Cooper, who : was one of the original ;■-founders of the concern,. and who, al- ; ■■-'though. •• he severed his connection as '.' managing, director when tho/.Wairarapa !■' business , was. sold, in 1915, remained on ;;; the board, and gave, us the benefit of. i' his wide experience in the business. In .'■- accordance.,with the articles of associa- !'■ tion, the following directors retire, viz., :. Messrs.-.Hugh.-Williams.and P. J. Slad- ;• den. Messrs. .Williams and Sladden being eligible, offer ; themselves for re-elec- ' tion. Mr. Oscar Monrad, having- been m duly'nominated* offers'-himself for elec- ; tion. to fill the vacancy caused by the ■■ death of -Mr. Cooper. The auditors, ; Messrs. Eutherfurd and.Connell and Mr. ' P..L...Sim, offer themselves-for re-elec-;'..tion'; ;' ; ; ■ ■■•• ■.. }■;' \. +' -'- ; : [■■' War Service of Members of the Fifm.'

'•■"'■ Before moving the adoption of the Tei 'port aiid balance-sheet, the chairman rei ferred to various members of the firm i who' had lost their lives during the past I year at the front. He also .spoke of the i' severe loss which the company had suffcred in the death of Mr. JO. C. Cooper, .who was in .partnership with himself (Hid Mr. Porritt'when the,,company, was formed, ,and who was one 'of the company's managing directors until, the Wairnrapa business was sold. .He said the o'ompany/was deeply indebted to the late J; Mr. Cooper,, for,the energy and ability ! he displayed in helping to. develop the i business. Mr. Cooper had been a most V respected 'and popular resident of the V Wairarapa district, whilst'for himself ■: he'had to deplore the loss of a very /dear friend. The chairman also referred : to Lieutenant Trevor Thomas, who was ''■'■ wounded and a prisoner in Germany, ' : after .winning. the M.C. for. storming and 'holding a pill-bos against overwhelming ';-. odds, and to Lieutenant, Strang, who was t : a.'prisoner'in 'Austria.. '■ ■ ■"■ "The'chairman then referred to the : ■ great victory which had been won, and which he characterised as a victory : which assured, a lasting peace so far as Mortal man could judge, and under con- . ditions which' shouH the, :.•' whole English-speaking races of the globe '■■! intw a confederation which would not • readily be attacked again. i ' -.'''. ~"," : .''The Year's Business. <■ ', In reference* to business, the chair- ; fian said that,. considering the very )' heavy disabilities.,under which'they had i' been'-working,- -. .consisting of—(1) -The j shortage of staff, and the difficulty found ;' in getting efficient men to replace those i vrho had gone to.the'front, especially 1 eince the more responsible officers had \ begun to'go;/(2)' tho'increased cost of ■ ■ living, which necessitated h'eavier sala- ! ries to enable the officers of the com- ; pany.to carry on in comfort; (3) the enor- ' inous increase in the cost of supplies, re- ! pairs, and"" upkeep generally; (4) ■ the [ heavy 'taxation which had to be met, he ;. was justified in- congratulating sharehold- '•; ers on the presented, though ; the net return was not quite equal to ! that of last year;,- 'He then shortly Tβ- : viewed -the figures r.epresenting-.the';more , important operations. ; The total figures , showedJa.reduction of about dur-~-'ing the year, but this was.fully accounti ed for by the fall in value of. stock and , the depressed trade which was' experi- .' enced; owing'to the-severe winter condi- : tions -which.had prevailed right through . the district. On tho other hand, the ! company's operations in land sales of - various sorts had increased very materially.. '•-•. Capital account showed an. increase of ■■■.£4600 only, probably accounted for by .; the demand for money created by tho ■ war loans,' and also possibly by' the fact j. that ■ investors, were' not yet prepared to , pay a premium. '. This would right itself ■'■' in time, and' the shares were worth more I than the "moderate premium of 10s. plac- ' ed on fciiem, considering tho .£45,000, onflthird of the total' paid-up capital, then I etanding in their reserves, and it must : be regarded as satisfactory that, notwith- ;'■ standing tha considerable increase in ad- : ranees in the King Country, the liabili- ■ ties showed an increase of =82419 only, i' Eegarding tho.assets the chairman said ': | the only items to which 1 he need refer |; '--Tvere propertj' account, which showed an iS... increase of J3503, being the necessary .'' • business sites purchased in the King ! Conntry. The goods account showed an '. . increase of £bW, necessitated owing to : the heavier turnover tho company was :- doing. Earnings for 1918 showed. =£56,468, y- as against .£55,894 for last year,' an in- :'. crease of ■ ,£574. On the other hand, . charges showed an increase of ,£1023, leaving a net decrease of ; .£574. • ' Land and income tax paid for tWe year !. amounted" to .£6416 15s. Gd., as against [ X 3508 paid last year. Next year the ' company would have to pay close on .. =£8000, but this was fully, provided fur ; by the taxation reserve account qf ;■'■ dBIO.OOO. The chairman said that whilst ; they must cheerfully accept their share I of the expenses incurred during the war, I; in. the ehape of taxation, and be quite i happy that it was not even more, they i felt that firms such as theirs, who inn- ■'- terially assisted the prpgresj of the counj try by financing farmers, and thereby en- : abling them to increase 4heir produc- ! tion, should not be called on to lock up [\ too much in war loans, thereby distnrb- ' injr their finances rnd increasing the j. heavy liabilities which many of them had 'toacarry. Representations.in'regard to j thia were being made iii tli,e proper i , quarter. The sum of =£5000 had been i added to their reserves in the shape of a ;''■ dividend equalisation reserve," whilst (' their assets showed a surplus of .£187,930 j ■ pyer their liabilities. :' "The wool branch shoivei a reduction )n

amount handled, partly owing to the fact that a good deal of tlieir wool had to go to Wnnganui and Auckland, where they were'-not at present represented, but steps were being taken to remedy this matter, and in the,near future jhey hoped to be able to handle all their clients' wool. Generally, the chairman said the prospec'ts of the concern were"most encouraging. Fresh agencies had been opened lip at Te Jfniti, Itaetihi, Pio I J io, Dtorohanga, Owhango, and other smaller centres, and in overy caso their advent hod been welcomed, and- they h«<l a_t once obtained a good share of the business, going! Naturally, they must expect some time to elapso before ..they could.obtain the full result of their work in new districts, but they felt eure that before long shareholders would be perfectly 'satisfied with the results. The chairman referred to the number of. the staff who had left owing to the war, consisting of 35 out of an original staff of 57, and said he considered that the staff left were entitled to n hearty vote of thanks for the manner in which, they had faced (he heavy work which had fallen on their i In regard to the future, the chairman said his own feeling was that ihey could look for a time of steady prosperity for this Dominion. Whenever the producers were doing well, it followed iis a matter of course that, they must follow suit. .No doubt the present high prices for stock would come down somewhat, but he thought the fall would be gradual and would 'eventually lie fixed on a basis more permanent than !,cretofore, and not subject to the violent fluctuations which had been experienced in thfl past, and consequently a farmer would, be-able to take up land and practically know what his return would bo, depending of course on his' farming ability. One thing was certain—that the old slinshod methods of farming would not da with land at present prices, and farmers would have, to be nrogrefsiyo and keep in touch with all the. scientific improvements which were brought cut ■ from time to time. '.Of one thing he felt sure, "that there would bo a oonsidorable immigration of men of small punital from "England and her allies. Our men, by their appearance, their valour/ and their description of the easy methods of life in this country, would iiiwuestionably inspire many of these with whom they had been brought in contact duni'if the wnr to endeavour to improve their conditions of life by living in a country ■ =o free of wnr's alarm? n.s wo had been during the last momentous four years.

Dividends. On the motion of the chairman, seconded by. Jlr. Crosse, a. dividend nt tile rate of 8 psr cent, per annum 'on the paid-up capital of the ordinary shares of the company for the half-year.endod Soptember 30. 1918, making, .with the interim dividend paid in March last, 8 per cent, for the year was declared, the dividend to be payable on December 2. " , On the motion of Hie chairman, seconded by Jlr. Bolion, a. dividend at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum on the paid-up capital of the preference shares of the company for the half-year ended September 30, 1938, malting, with thu interim dividend paid in .March lagt, 6 per cent, for the year, was declared., . Election of 'Directors. ' The only nominations being 'Messrs. P. J. Sladden, H. G; Williams, and 0. Monrad, these gentlemen were declared by tho meeting-'to be duly elected. . ' ■ Messrs. Rutherfurd and Connell and Mr. P. L. Sim were duly elected auditors. 1 ' Vote of Thanks. ■ On.the,motion of Mr. C. J. Monro, seconded by Mr. Grosse, , a hearty vote of thanks was passed, to the chairman, directors, and staff/ and after the. chairman had returned thanks on their 'Jiehnlf the meeting dosed.—(Published by arrangement.) " ■ . .. ■