THE NEW ZEALAND REFRIGERATING CO., LTD

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 115, 8 February 1919, Page 3

THE NEW ZEALAND REFRIGERATING CO., LTD

' y ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

The thirty-first annual meeting of The balance available for appropriation, shareholders of the New Zealand Ee- as shown by the balance-sheet, is .£83,919 frigeriting Company, Ltd., was held in 16s. 9d., which the directors recommend the company's offices, Hereford Street, should be disposed of as follows:— Cliristchurch, on Wednesday. Mr. H. A. Knight (chairman of directors) presided, j6 s d. REPORT AND. BALANCE-SHEEP. To jmy a dividend of one The following was tho report of the shilling per share 15,000 0 0 directors:- To pay a bonus of one , . , shilling per shaTe 10.000 u o The directors have pleasure in present- To add to the restore ncing to shareholders the balance-sheet and count 18,600 0 0 profit and loss account for the year end- leaving an amount to ed October 31, 1918. * carry forward of 35,319 16 9 During tho year the large additions to various of the company's works referred ,£83,919 10 9 to in last report proved to be fully re- , quired. The director retiring by rotation is ilr. \ further storage extension is being 11. J. Beswick, who, being eligible, ofiors made to Siuithfield, in order to meet the himself for; re-election. requirements of tho coming season. The auditors. Messrs. E. Hill I wher It is proposed to transfer the sum of and Son, also retire and offer themselves ,£31,400, standing to the credit of share for re-election. irvTriTT count. Um aCC ° Unt ' t0 IeSCrTO a °" ChaLfc S. • BALANCE-SHEET. ■ The following Balance-Sheet for the £ s. d. £ 6. d. year ended October 31, 1918, was sub- By Land, BuildD " t,:ell: ~" £ 6. d. 800,210 19 5 To Capital 'Account, 300,000 \ „ Stocks Meat . . Shares of Jt each, fully ' . and Wool, held. 300,000 0 0 on account of „ Secured Debentures at sis Imperial Govper cent 150,000 0 0 ernment 983,370 13 9 Share Premium Account... 31,400 0 0 Less Payments "General Reserve Account.... 100,000 0 0 in advance by General Assurance Reserve Imperial GovAccount '.... 100,000. 0 0 eminent ... 71/,270 3 3 „ Advance secured against > i Imperial and other 26G,090 10 7 Stocks awaiting ship- „ Company s ment etc 476,460 12 8 Stock awaiting ~ Sundry' Creditors, _ Ad- < shipment 214,183 13 7 4 vauces : against Shin-. ' ments, and London Bal- „ Sundry Debtnnces 673,163 11 2 ors, Invest- „ Balance at Credit Profit ments, Conand Loss ••••■ 63,919 16 9 signments, unrealised and , General Stocks ... in Works ... 584,422 18 7 „ N.Z. Government War 1 Loan Stock ... ' 50,000 0 0 634,422 18 i , „ Cash in hand , 3018 5 .£1,914,944 0 7 £1,914,944 0 < PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED OCTOBER 31, 1918. ' 6, d. m J s.d. * «. d. ' year after payment of Dividend and Appropriations authorised ... 28,540 15 8 1918—Oct. 31. „ By Transfer Fees 4910 0 , „ Profit after making provision for Repairs. Renewals,' Taxation, , I and Sundry Contingencies 66,429 11 2g. Jg / .£95,019 16 4 4

H. A. KNIGHT, Cbainnan of Directors. / WM. MURRAY, General Manager. . W. 0. CAMPBELL, fßsistant Manager ami Secretary. Wn tiprpliv certifv that all our requirements as Auditors of the Neu Refrigerating Compnny, Ltd.Jiftve been complied with, and we Jjow report. havin| Examined the Book' and Accounts for. the and tm the above Balance-Sheet is drawn up in a propet form, and exhiibifc, am e correct view of the state of the Company s affairs as shown by the Book* and a y • certified Stock Sheets, jj E IL h FISHER AND SON, F.P.A.N.Z., Auditors.

I referred last year to the highly responsible duties which our London manager was asked to undertake, as director of meat supplies, and I am sure yon will join with me in congratulate tor Francis Boys on the well-earned distinction which the Imperial Government lias conferresd on him, in recognition of tno marked success ho has achieved m tliis difficult and responsible position. Turning now to the accounts, tbo bal-ance-sheet now before us reflects very clearly the abnormal conditions under which we have, porforce, been operating, and the figures will probably give you a clearer indication than anything Ican say of 1 the congestion of our produce. Thero is reasonable ground, however, to believe that ere,we meet next year the • position will have considerably eased, and I trust that by that time we vill have beert* able to liquidate much it not all, of these accumulations. 1 teel reluctant, however, to express too confident a note in regard to this, as long experience has shown that it is not pr dent to accept shipping forecasts as absolutely certain to materialise, ivov. tjiai hostilities have terminated, it :s.Jiotever, reasonable to assume that ov later a clearance will lw niado m which we miist participate. Taking the principal-items of the bal-ance-sheet in detail: The paid-up -capi!al now stands at J6300,000, an lnwcwe as compared with last year of the debentures stand, as before, _ at .£150,000! tho share premium aceouiu is also -unaltered, bjit, as you. will nonce from the report, it is proposed to tuns, for this -sum to the reserve account. I'here does not seem to be any useful purpose served by keeping this as a separate item, and I think it would simplify matters if the course suggisti'd is followed in next years Shareholders will understand, tl.eitoie, that, should tho report generallj n eet with their approval, this step um la The next two items are the two reservo accounts, which stand at AiOO.CW large item immediately following amounting to ,£476,160 12s. Bd., represents tho trading advanees I Imperial and other stocks awaiting-ship;. ' ment. This, item, although large, shows the very hubstaiiial ie- ' [ duction of practically ,£IOO,OOO, as compared with the corresponding item '! vear. This is, of course, accounted to I by the large partial payments in from tho Imperial Government, as show on the other side of the balance-sheet. The next item is also very largo, and shows a .substantial increase on_ the figures of the previous year. X Jus is accounted for by the fact that - imioh larger shipments wei'9 on the balance date, and w the na;tuni reflection of the la<)k of shipping a 1 1" consequent congestion of our l' l ' o^uct .^, Turning to the other side of the Jjai ance-sheet, the land, buildings, mm] 11 "- ery, and plant of the company stand at aVfle over £BM,OOO. The * mainly duo to tho erection of furthei storage and other improvements, and also to the acquisition of Hornby iroiks, which the directors thoughc it wi=e to secure since we last met. This , as you arc aware, is adjacent id IMinK*. ton, and has. been leased by us and under our control for many years. As i was impossible to continue to hold it indefinitely on leasehold terms, ariangemonts were msde for the purchase, at a siitisfactorv figure, and in -view of the position with which we are still faced. 1 have no hesitation in saying that it will prove to bo a most valuable adjunot to the properties of the company. _ Provision has also been made in tne figures now in front of you for the whole of the expenditure on tne addition to Smitlifiekl, and, as already indicated, it would seom unlikely that imther extensions will be necessary during the coming year to any of our works, Ail our factories are in excellent order, and I do not, therefore, anticipate that tlie company will be called upon to face any further capital expenditure chiving tins present season. Auv luithcr increase in this item is, therefore, unlikely. The nest item shows that, nu the da.e of the balnnc, the stocks of meat and wool held by us on account of the Imperial Government amounted to no le.-s : than £988.370 13s. M. Against this holding. however, as shown, payments ui nd--1 vhnce linve been received direct from the ! Imperial Government .'.mounting to -C 717.i 275 3s. 2d., leavin? a balance due t'i «•? ' by the Imperial Government of £2GG,fI!)S I 10s. 7d., which will be payable in due • course when the meat is shipped. '1 tie • next item represents the values of the i company's ordinary trading stocks awaiti ing shipment, and the effects of the oon- , geation are again emphasised when it is

Christclmrch,- January 131 1919. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. ' The chairman, Mr. Knight, addressing the meeting, said: . In accordance with, the usual practice, with your permission- I will take the report' 1 and balance-sheet (which has now been in your hands for some time) wad. ' , , Before proceeding to deal with the business of the company, and more espgcially with the accounts now before you, I would like to congratulate shareholders 011.-the cessation of hostilities, and trust that the year now iu front of us will see the much-desired peace tirraly secured. Last season proved in.-many ways difficult and beset with grave problems; but, in view of the fact that the worldwide struggle had been going on for over four years, we could hardly have expected • otherwise- Indeed, 1 think wo may consider ourselves more than fortunate in having been in a position to carry on, practically, without interruption, during the whole of the war period. The very large storage extensions to our various factories proved to 1)9 most essential, and, had they not been undertaken, not only would _ tho interests of the company • have suftered seriously, but also those of the protlucing community generally, j The shortage of shipping became more acute than ever during 1918, and consequently practically all storage space throughout New Zealand was taxed to its utmost. The shipping problem is still acute, and although this year is expected to see a marked change for the better iu this respect, the indications are that for some time at auy rate the cold stores of the Dominion will probably bo called upon to hold a larger quantity of meat than ever. Believing that thus would be the position, during at any rate a.portion of this coming season, after careful consideration, it was decided to arrange for. a further largo extension to Smithfield. This factory was selected, as South Canterbury appeared to us to be the district, most likely to be adversely affected. [ This store is almost complete, and will be available within the next week or two. It is practically certain that without this addi-1 tion not only our interests, but also j those of the producers in South Canter-. bury and North Otago would have*< suf-! fered grave loss and inconvenience at'] an early point throughout' the coming j year. We are hopeful, however,. that the substantial addition that has boon made will materially. help to keep the business toe from dislocation. Now that hostilities have ceased, I think we may fairly assume-that no tether calls are likely to be made on us for increased storage, and it may- be reasonably expected that this addition to Smithfield will bo the last of these repeated heavy demands upon our resources which we have had to face since 1914. Shareholders are to 1m congratulated on the chango in connection with the company's capital. The rearrangement,of the denomination of the shares, and tlie issuing of fresh scrip have been smoothly effected. In spite of the numerous demands upon the community, the whole of the balance of tho capital called up was readily forthcoming, and it is most satisfactory to, be able to record that, notwitlitandingi tho fact that we have some -eleven hundred odd shareholders on oui' register, the directors only found it necessary to resort to forfeiture in ono isolated case, involving the trifling amount of <£10- This I consider is a somewhat noteworthy record, especially when we bear in mind thit the opening chapter of this company's history was written in 1881, and that our register, therefore, dates back to thirty-seven years ago. . So far as the industry generally is concerned, probably tho most important development since we last met has been I the decision of the Imperial Government to continue the control of imported sup-1 plies of meat for somo time longer. As j probably you are aware, a week or two ago the Dominion Government officially announced the extension of the commandeer of tho whole of the Dominion's meat supplies for a further period un to .Tune, 1920; all slipe wool has also been commandeered" along with the main clip for the same period. The desirability of these extensions . of the commandeer of the two most important products of tho Dominion seems obvious, not only from our. own point of view as a freezing company, but also from the point of view of the producer and the Dominion generally. It is satisfactory to know that the great concensus of responsible opinion in both islands has been strongly in favour of this step.

noticed that this item is practically, doublo what it was twelve months ago. These two items together make up the total of £180,279 4s. 2d. The next group of liquid assets consists of sundry debtors, investments, consignments unrealised, and general stocks in works, valued at ,£581,122. Hero again there is an Increase of almost a quarter of a million, as compared with twelve months ago. It is, of course, impossible to consider here in detail tho varied itonis making up this very large total. I may say, however, that exceptionally large shipments of 6uch of our produce as it was possible to get away from the Dominion were still open in our books at tho date of balance, although, from cable, .advices received, a largo proportion of these outstanding shipments was actually sold at that time, and the amount actually at the company's risk,-,therefore,'would be considerably short pf the figure shown. Every possible care has been takeji in assessing the values of everything that goes to make up this most important total, and I can assure shareholders that, as usual, every reasonable precaution has been taken to prevent any over-estima-tion of their value The amount shown as invested, in war loan 6tocks speaks for itself, and represents the company's contributions to the war loan up to the date of balance. It js'anticipated, however, that some further investment in this direction will probably be desirable. Th'e profit and loss account shows .£83,919 16s. 9d. available for distribution, and it is recommended that this should be disposed of as follows-.— £ b. d. To pay a dividend of Is. per share 15,000 0 0 To pay a bonus of 13. per share 15,000 . 0 0 To add to reserve account 18,600 0 0 Leaving an amount to ' carry forward of • 35,319 16 : 9 I think it only proper to draw shareholders' attention "to the fact that our auditors' certificate doe 3 not contain the usual clause as to the audit of the London accounts. This emission could not be avoided without seriously delaying the issue of the accounts now before you. Owing to the dislocation of the mail services, which at the end of last year was growing' more and more acute, the complete accounts from London weie delayed in transmission so long that it was deemed advisable to close without them. The figures, however, were to a large extent available by cable, and, sinctTthe balance-sheet was published, the final accounts have duly come to hand. Whilst this somewhat linusiial course 'has been followed- in this case, the board still consider that it is desirable —under normal conditions—to have tne London accounts finally in hand before issuing the balance-sheet, and it is intended,'' therefore, in tho future, to if ■jwssibje adhere to the practice of waiting for the Home documents. , Whilst on this scatter I maytmenhon that it has been frequently urged that the payment of • any interim _ dividend which may bo declared slioula be made at a period as nearly as possible 6ix months after our annual meeting, ond as this suggestion has must to recommend it, in future any dividend, if declared, will be paid early in August. At this date the board will also be m a better position to judge more accurately as to tho probable out-turn of tho year's operations, and it is, therefore, hoped that it will be possible in future to divide any dividend distribution more evenly between the two periods than has been tho case iu tho past. Tho director retiring by rotation is Mr. H. J. Beswiqk, who, being eligible, offers himself for re-election. \ T'ho auditors, Messrs. R Hill Fisher and Son. also retire, and offer themselves for re-election. 1 Beforo formally moving tho adoption of the report apd balance-sheet, if there are any matters in' connection with the business of the company or the accounts upon which I have not touched, I will be very pleased to answer any questions if it is in my power to do so. The chairman then formally moved tue adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Mr. John Mill, in seconding the motion, said that tho report was ono whioh 1 would nivo every sfttisfactioti to sh&T&holders, and that the accounts before the meeting indicated clearly that the enormous business of tho company had beon most cnrcfully handled. He was suro also that all would be glad to know that there were reasonable encouraging indications concerning shipments to be made during the coming season, thus affording the much-needed relief. Tho directors had been called upon to face very grave problema during the war'period, and more especially during the last twelve months, and tho fact that they had managed to steer successfully through all their difficulties was greatly appreciated by the shareholders. He was. pleased to note that tho company had already invested a -matter of .050,000 in Government War Loan stock, and hoped the time would not bo far distant when those who were responsible for. the war would be made to suffer for the misery they had brought about. Mr. Mill fllso thought that in view of tho growth, of the company's business, the directors might very well consider whether .a further issue of capital to shareholders only might not be advantageously made. He was suro that every shareholder would be perfectly satisfied that the directors had done well for them and for the farmers and Dominion as a whole, and therefore it was with particular pleasure that he seconded the motion for the adoption of the report. ' On being put to the vote, the report and balance-sheet were unanimously adopted. Mr. W. H. Clark referred to the reserve funds invested in the business, end also suggested that tho should take into consideration the advisability of a further increase of capital. The chairman, replying, said that Mr. Clark's suggestion would receive careful consideration at tho hands of the Board. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Mr. H. J. Beswick, who rttiros by rotation, i was re-elected a director. Messrs. R. Hill Fisher and Son were re-elected auditors for the ensuing year. On the motion of Mr. J. H. Hall, seconded by Mr. A. Kaye, it was resolved that the auditors' fee for tho ensuing year be increased by 100 guineas. VOTE OF THANKS. Mr. J.. H. Hall, seconded by Mr. W. H. Clark, moved a hearty vote of thanks to the directors, management, and staff, which was carried unanimously. The chairman and general manager respondpd, and tho meeting dosed.—(Published by arrangement