GAS COMPANY.

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 31, 6 February 1935, Page 19

GAS COMPANY.

YEAR'S OPERATIONS

REVIEW BY CHAIRMAN

DIVIDEND OF 8 PER CENT.

■ The sixty-fifth general meeting of shareholders in the Wellington Gas Company was held yesterday. In.; moving that the report and bal-ance-sheet be adopted, the chairman of: directors, Sir Harold Beauchamp, said:— . .."I am sure we all regret the absence today: of our deputy chairman; Mr. Gerald FitzGerald, who has always taken the keenest interest in the affairs of the company. You will, I know, join with, me in expressing the hope that he will be speedily restored to health. "The report and balance-sheet having been in your possession for some days, you will, no doubt follow the usual 'course'and lake them as read. It will be noticed that the balance-sheet this year is" set'out. in a new form. This has, been .done to meet the require-meatsof-the-new Companies Act. ■ "Theboard is'pleased to be in a posi-tion-to recommend a dividend of 4 per; cent for the last half of .the company's yeaf,"ahd with the interim dividend ,of 4 per cent, paid in August las.t_ this.will give shareholders a re-tum.-o£.a.-pec-cent, for the full year, and permit the carrying forward of £14,769 4s lld."You will observe that the debenture redemption, fund. has been increased by £10,000, the total now being £110,000. The insurance fund has also been strengthened.by £2500, that fund now standing at £15,000. To provide for contingencies, it will be the aim of the board to augment that reserve from time to time. DEPRECIATION. "The company's policy of making adequate provision for depreciation of plant, machinery, and buildings has been:'continued. The amount written off for- the year. was. £18,301. It is gratifying to report that the volume of gas..sold shows an increase '■ over the preceding year. ■-''Thepopularity of gas is evidenced by-the steady growth of the sales of .gas .appliances. :For the. year ended -December SI;.-1934; the sales were- as follows:—Cooking, 1843; water heating, 659; heating 227. Total, 2729, being an increase of 141 over the year 1933. "The number of meters in use at the close of the year was 30,436. The increase for the year was 1050. The 12-inch steel main from Kilbirnie to Hall.Street, a distance of one mile, has been' replaced ■■• with cast-iron pipes. These pipes were manufactured by the Onakaka Iron and Steel Company, a New Zealand-owned company. "With a view to meeting. the demands of consumers who wish to purchase gas in small quantities, we-have added 11 to' this number of pre-payment meters, and it may be said that through this service, gas may be bought in smaller quantities than any other fuel, and gas is available twenty-four hours of the day the year, through. COMPANY'S PLANT. "It has been the policy of the directors to adopt the most modern and efficient plant whenever the need for this arises.. The shareholders can feel assured that the company's plant and methods are of the most up-to-date kind, and rank high amongst the best, of similar undertakings *in the Empire. "The first installation of our present carbonising .plants which is the Glover-West'Vertical Retort' System, was erected in 1922, and the second unit-of equal size was put Into operaion in 1927. i -It is-pleasing to report that the results obtained from the system continue to be satisfactory. "The whole of our plant has been maintained in first-class repair. 1 "The use of gas fires has increased since the revision of the rate by which those consumers who have installations, of hot water systems, either of the'instantaneous or storage type, may' now v have .gas,.for heating at the hot1 water storage rate. , The great ad-( vantage of the modern gas fire Tests in the fact that - heat-is by-radiation—; Nature's way. j In addition to.gas fires ventilating a room, they possess a further merit in that they require no attention, also! not work, and there is.neither dirt nor ashes. - > • ' ' "On account of its' cleanliness, ease of regulation, and its suitability for intermittent heating, our gas service is now being adopted for central heating of all types, and during the year twenty-three (23) installations of these systems were fixed in the churches, theatres, factories, and residences. "Speaking of the hygienic qualities of gas, that eminent authority in the gas world, Sir Francis Goodenough, CB E, executive chairman,, the British Commercial Gas Association, recently said:— "'Twenty-five years ago there was in England a widespread prejudice against gas fires, particularly on the part of medical men who had personal experience of the use of badly constructed or badly fixed or badly' maintained fires. It -ytfas no uncommon thing for a doctor to order a gas fire out of a patient's bedroom. The damaging effects were obvious. "'We therefore began-, a vigorous campaign to induce doctors, to give modern gas fires a fair and unbiased trial on their real merits. " 'The first step was to send letters to ■ everyrdpctpr in the area, emphasising the hygienic value of gas heating, -andipffeEing:to.'fix'a gas fire on trial, free ■ of-fixing charge, in any room chosen by >ihe .doctor... In addition, an offer was made to' overhaul and maintain, free of .charge any gas fires already in use, or .to-exchange any out-of-date fires. '"" "'But'.today'the'Harley Street district consumes more gas than any other area of equal size in the British Isles. More than ~ three out of four of; the-: doctors all .over the country use gas fires, and the" same figure applies .to hospitals : • and homes. *" 'The company will certainly not relax their efforts -until the only doctors not using gas'fbr heating are like the Scottish, doctor who informed us that, though gas fires were all right, he considered.that we were'criminal in encouraging people to use fires of any sort in their bedrooms; for his part, ..he. never needed a fire at all, and everyone, ought -to be as hardy. • '"No single factor has influenced the sale of gas.appliances-more than the weigHt, of medical- opinion which has thus turned: in our favour. In Britain, as in other, countries, the doctor exercises a very real power in most households, and the fact that he himself is a satisfied user of gas is one of the strongest recommendations we could have.' '. ' NEW GAS COOKEE DESIGNS. "The public are familiar with the new heat-controlled gas ovens. All cookers supplied by'the company are adapted to: use this device. By setting the .oven control, the food may be left unwatched because any rise or fall in'temperature is reflected in a decrease or increase of the flame, so that the food is perfectly cooked in uniform heat. "The advance made in the design of gas-heated water appliances has been quite equal to the improvements made in the design of gas cookers, and various sizes stnd types of water heaters are available to meet any require^

ment. The water" storage" systems which are 'manufactured in the Dominion suit the demands of the busy household. ■•".-■ "A new type of instantaneous water heater, known as the 'multipoint' system, is also available for supplying hot water to the whole house, without the use of a storage cylinder. "To meet the requirements of the Dublic, as far as possible, arrangements were made last year for business firms in ten suburbs to receive payments of our consumers' gas accounts, and this is proving a great convenience to consumers. HOUSE-BUILDING SCHEME. "The decline in general building has brought about a- shortage of houses in Wellington. During the past year only. 163 new dwellings in this city were made available for-use, and it is estimated that there is a shortage of some 10,000 houses in the Dominion. It is generally, conceded: that inactivity in the "building trade is closely related' to unemployment, and- for that reason-' the; Unemployment Board has, 'during the past two years, introduced building subsidy, schemes; These have been successful. in , stimulating the building and related trades for a period,.witha resultant decrease inthe registrations of unemployed. '"With the.object of obtaining a still further decrease^ In the figures, and at I;he same time assisting more particularly with ; the housing problem, the Unemployment Board introduced in July last a purely housebuilding subsidy scheme.' Under this a subsidy" of-Is per square foot of all totally-enclosed floor space.. may be obtained, with the provision that the subsidy payable shall not. exceed 8 per cent, of the contract price, or shall not be in excess of £80 for any one, house. .".■■'. ■""Very pleasing results are being achieved, as, up to the present, 2744 applications have been approved, the capital expenditure:: involved being £1,774,194, and the men to be engaged numbering some 11,500. Of the total cost of the works approved £1,543,548 represents the amounts which will be paid directly and indirectly in wages. "It is noted, how.ever, that while excellent results, have been achieved in oth§r. centres, the opportunity offered by the" scheme hardly seems to have .been appreciated to the full extent in Wellington. Towards ttie end of November returns based on the number of new houses per 1000 of population revealed Wellington's figures as .74, as against 1.23 for Dunedin. '!•....; ' ".': "

"One factor . which :has:; tended to retard, the' prbgresr.o/ the scheme is the general uncertainty and difficulty of finance, and to overcome this to some extent the Unemployment Board has Completed negotiations with the building societies, as a result of which these societies will now advance up to 80 per cent, of the valuation of the property to approved clients. As the tendency, recently-has. been to restrict advances to 60 per cent, this arrangement should result in more people being able to take advantage of the scheme. EMPLOYEES! WELFARE. '■'In'connection with our superannuation scheme, commenced ,in 1926,' it is interesting to note that there are now 201 employees assured. The total life cover is £134,000. The amount paid by the company for premia last,year was £2599.' The board also established some years ago a sick and benefit fund. The company subsidises this fund £ for £ contributions from the employees. This enables members, by paying sixpence per week, to receive £2 weekly for a period of thirteen weeks during illness. The cost to the company last year was £237. Both of these schemes are working satisfactorily. - : ■"I might mention that the; total wages paid by the. company for the past financial year amounted to £62,000. ,; V.'lt- must afford our. shareholders satisfaction to. recall that, during the general decline in the market prices of most company shares, the value of all gas. shares was well maintained. The market price of our shares is higher today than at any period in the history■•; pf the company. . v '.'This is an indication of the (esteem in which the shares of the,:co?npany are held by investors, and presents striking evidence of the stability^' of the company, and of the gas industry. "It has been my privilege to be a member of the board since September, 1904, a period of over thirty years, which is nearly half the life-time of. the company. I might add this is a record, being the longest period of office held by any director since its inception. ■ "When one considers the size of the company when I was first associated with it as a-.director, as compared with the present operations, one cannot but be impressed with the remarkable progress and development that has taken place, in the' interval, not only in the extended use of gas but in the growth of our city. "In concluding, I should like to place on record our appreciation of the good services rendered to-the company by our very efficieriFgeheral manager and secretary, Mr. M. J. Kennedy, also ourengineer, Mr. J. Hungerford, and all our employees who serve the company so loyally and efficiently. "I now move: "That the report and statement of accounts be received and adopted, and that the dividend therein recommended be and the same is hereby declared, also, that all payments of dividends made by the directors during the past financial year to holders of preference shares issued in pursuance of the resolution adopted at the extraordinary general meeting of the company held on the 3rd day of August; 1911, be and the same are hereby ratified, and that, subject to profits being available therefor, the directors be and they are hereby authorised to declare and pay to the holders of such preference shares during^ the current financial year dividends as provided by the said resolution of the 3rd day of August, 1911." . The motion was seconded by Dr. C. P. Knight. Mr. F. Dyer said that he had no desire to criticise the balance-sheet, but he wanted to draw attention to the company's bad debts. The company was controlling a monopoly and if people got behind with their accounts their supply could be cut off. He asked if the company's collecting staff was quite efficient.

The chairman said they had the power to cut off supplies, but it was necessary to show' some discretion in that direction. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. DIRECTORS' FEES INCREASES. Mr. A-.Strang moved: "That; as from January. 1,• .1934, - "and until otherwise determined- in- general meeting, the directors-shall he paid out of the funds of the company for their attendance at board meetings the" sum of £1100 per annum. Air such remuneration shall be-divided amongst the said directors, as they may determine." -He said the .responsibilities of the directors'had increased considerably and he congratulated them on the way they had-done., their'job. The company had. continued to pay the same dividend through bad times. The motion was seconded by Mr. C. J. B. Norwood, who said the directors had certainly brought the company through very difficult times. Their shares occupied a place on the market alongside gilt-edged securities. Sir Kenneth Douglas opposed the motion, and contrasted the business of the company with that of other com-

panics, w,hose directors received much less in the way of fees. He did not see any justification for increasing the fees from £ 800 to £ 1100. Mr. E. Boocock asked if it were true that gas companies were presented from paying a greater dividend than 8 per cent.

The chairman said there was no law against a higher dividend, but there was an arrangement that the dividend would not be increased until the company could reduce its charge to the consumers.^ That time was not yet. The motion was carried on a show of hands.

Mr. Dyer moved: "That in view of the improved position of the Wellington Gas Company, and the improvement in business generally, the directors will at an early date take into their favourable consideration the restoration of the 10 per cent, cut they were forced to make in the salaries and wages of the staff during the period of depression." He said he trusted that the directors would give the proposal sympathetic consideration. ■ Mr.R. A. Wright, M.P., supported the motion, and said that the directors, if they could not restore the full 10 per cent., should consider restoring .5 per cent. The motion was carried.