POWER BOARD FINANCES

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LII, Issue 32, 21 April 1931, Page 5

POWER BOARD FINANCES

A SATISFACTORY YEAR.

EVIDENCE OF SOUND MANAGEMENT.

TURNOVER OF £30,716

That the business controlled by the Springs-Ellesmere Electric Power Board has been exceedingly well managed during the past year is shown by the statement of accounts presented to the Board at its meeting last week by the engineer-secretary, Mr L. C. Vicary. Although the power fund account shows' a turnover of £30,716 13s sd, the profit on the year's working amounts,to only £386 8s Bd. This is due to the Board's policy of giving the best service to its consumers at the lowest possible cost. The Board rightly holds that if the statement had shown a large surplus it would have laid itself open to a charge of having taken more money out of the pockets of its consumers than it should have received. Its policy in that respect provides a striking contrast to the operations of some other power supply authorities. Throughout the year every item of expenditure has been carefully considered and the shareholders in the business—the consumers—have been exceptionally well served. Of the total income shown in the power fund account, the main items are as follow: Sales of current, £25,461 7s sd; other sales, £2724 9s Id. On the expenditure side the main items were: Purchase of current, £8999 5s Id; interest, £8957 8s Id; wages, £2289 7s 7d; installation purchases, £1046 10s 7d; sinking funds, £1232 13s Id; salaries and wages, £1348 18s 4d; motor transport, £1020 Is lOd; depreciation fund investment, £1500; trading purchases, £855 Bs. The year started with a credit balance of £1970 2s and ended with a credit of £2356 10s Bd. Further evidence of careful management is provided by the trading account. Out of an income of £2880 1 15s lOd a profit of only £94 0s 4d was made, due to the practice of selling electrical appliances at bedrock prices. Purchases amounted to £1472 lis Bd, wages £437 Is 9d, transport £117 15s sd. On the expenditure side the main item was £2207 3s 5d for goods sold and installation and repair charges. The stock on hand at the end of the year was valued at £673 12s sd, as against £608 7s 3d at April 1, 1930. In the statement of income and expenditure the main item on the income side is sales of current £25,903 10s lid (general lighting £11,465 17s 9d, public and exterior shop lighting £513 13s Id, heating and cooking £3705 6s lid, power £9961 12s 9d, penalty charges £257 0s sd). Some additional items of expenditure, not already mentioned, were: Transmission, distribution and service lines, buildings and stores, and transformers and substations, £1048 5s lid; renewals and replacements of lines, tools, equipment, transformers, etc. £553 6s 3d; distribution expenses, meter reader's wages, testing, etc., £341 16s 8d; transport and upkeep of motor vehicles, including cost of a new vehicle, £898 14s sd; postages, telegrams, telephone and general office expenses, £350 14s 4d. The net revenue account shows interest as £8056 17s 6d, sinking fund £1604 18s lOd, depreciation assessed for the year £826 16s 4d. The depreciation fund reserve account shows a balance of £5,074 18s lid. No. 2 loan account shows a credit balance of £40 16s, No. 3 loan account a credit of £2419 13s 3d, and No. 4 loan account a credit of £796 18s 7d. The capital account gives the total amount of loan money taken up as j £141, 320, and the capital expenditure ! as £133,872 16s Bd. The main items of capital expenditure are: Main transmission lines, £10,938 17s 8d; primary distribution lines, £77,384 Is 4d; secondary lines, £5639 17s 2d; house services, £3542 3s 8d; distribution sub-stations £9669 5s lid; land, £853 6s lOd; offices and showroom, £3568 lis lid; buildings and fixtures, £4492 8s; public lighting £1687 13s 4d; tools and equipment, £1304 9s 2d; sundry vehicles, £2040 is lOd; consulting engineer's commission, £2287 ss; transport charges, £1632 17s 4d; interest and sinking fund, £5816 2s 7d. The balance-sheet gives the amount of the various loans as follows: No. 1, £60,000; No. 1 supplementary, £6000; No. 2 (Dunsandel), £4,000; No. 3, £49,800; No. 4, £20,000; No. 4 supplementary, £1520. The total value of the assets is shown as £162,010 10s Bd. The total amount of depreciation

chargeable for the year was £3156 18s Id (main transmission lines £1547 13s 7d, secondary lines £275 9s 2d, distribution substations £459 5s 7d, motor .vehicles £367 4s). The Board congratulated its accountant, Mr V.G. Mason, upon having completed the preparation of the financial statement for the year ending March 31 in time for the meeting on April 13. Members realised that a tremenodus amount of work was involved in getting out the various statements.