NO DIVIDEND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 227, 14 December 1927, Page 12

NO DIVIDEND

SHAREHOLDERS MUST WAIT FINANCE COMPANY’S TROUBLE The shareholders in the Traders’ Finance Corporation. Ltd., will not receive a dividend on ordinary shares for the operations of the concern over the past six months. This restriction is due to trouble which I occurred in one of the company’s largest i accounts, and which was responsible for the directors writing off provisionally £12,000 of the year’s net profit of The directors offered at the annual meeting yesterday to forego their usual £250 honorarium, but. the shareholders would not agree to this course, and insisted upon the payment of the usual amount. The financial position was explained by the chairman of directors, Mr. Robert Burns, who said one of the largest clients of the company had become involved in financial difficulties, and a preliminary investigation indicated that when the realisation was completed a considerable loss would be made on this account. As litigation seemed unavoidable, he did not propose to go into details, but when the account was finalised the whole position would be laid before the shareholders. In the meantime, as a precaution, the directors had decided to recommend that no ordinary dividend for the past six months should be declared and that £12,000 should be written off as a provision against possible bad debts. If on realisation of the account they found the position better than they expected, an interim dividend might be declared. "If it had not been for this unfortunate loss,” continued Mr. Burns, "we think the result of the year’s trading would have been satisfactory. We are firmly convinced there is profitable and sound business to be done on the right lines. With certain modifications we have made in our methods, and stricter outside supervision, we think there is no reason why this company should not have a successful future. There is not the same demand just now for advances against motor vehicles, but continually new avenues and quite profitable ones, outside motor vehicles altogether, are being opened* up.” The two retiring directors, Messrs. C. Nr. Fenwick and A. E. Warnock, were re-elected. It is intended to begin the new year with an office and a full-time secretary.