£1,200,000 LOSS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4322, 26 September 1921, Page 4

£1,200,000 LOSS.

BIG CLAIM BY V MANCHESTER FIRM FOR E.P.D. REFUND. A loss of £1,263,315 reported for the half year by the great Manchester House of Rylands and Sons. Ltd points to two unpleasant facts—the enormous depreciation which has taken place in the value of stock and the large claims which are being and'* will be made upon the Exchequer for refund of Excess Profits Duty. In ftie case of Rylands this claim is for no less than £1,200,945. Rylands js, of course, an exceptional case. The firm owns cotton mills, linoleum factories, and generally speaking is a very large producer.; It had also avery large merchantihg business, and stocks before they were necessarily written down to current values stood at over £3,000,000. Stock now appear in the balance sheet at £2,642,317, against £3,301446 in December. Fortunately for the shareholders the directors during the " boom ” period enormously strengthened the reserves of the company, and even when £250,000 has been withdrawn, as is now proposed £600,000 will remain.