NORTHERN STEAMSHIPS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 979, 23 May 1930, Page 13

NORTHERN STEAMSHIPS

CHANGE IN COMPANY’S OPERATIONS FROM PASSENGERS TO CARGO The 49th annual meeting of sh&rt holders in the Northern Steamship Company, Limited, was held today. The chairman of directors, Mr. .\ B. Roberton. presided. All three retiring directors. Messrs. Roberton. A. J. Hutchinson and Charles Rhodes. \ve«\ re-elected. In. his speech, Mr. Roberton sa*d: “The balance-sheet shows the con pany to be in a sound financial posi tion, but the year has not passed with out anxiety. This has been due tv general depression in trade in the Dominion, and to the exceptionally bud and wet weather experienced during Christmas and New Year, and extend ing over January, resulting in a largt reduction in our excursion busines*We carried 13,442 excursionists few* this year as compared with the pre vious year. No doubt the uncmploy inent among the working class is aispartly responsible for this reduction. “There is also another important factor which has affected the company’s operations, namely, the extra ordinary change from a combine*! cargo and passenger trade to practic ally cargo service only. The linkin up of the Northern and East Cons railways to the main Auckland lint and the general improvement in highways, which has allowed better servicecar connections, has created competitive routes to the coastal settlements. This has reduced the number of pas sengers travelling by boat to such an extent that it no longer pays to run our larger passenger steamers.” thchairman continued.

“When the Raxawa last year mad a loss in the Onehunga-New Plymouth trade, the Ngapuhi. a smaller and »escostly vessel to run. was put in he; place, but we regret that after year’s operating it was found that even the smaller vessel could not mulct a profit in this service. We had therefore no option but to withdraw the passenger steamer. replacing It with a regular bi-weekly cargo service. “The loss of passenger trades hatleft us with a number of idle steam* r.on our hands, and every endeavour is being made to dispose of them a profitably as possible. This is a difficult problem at the present time, as th*r* is a great deal of tonnage for sal* in all parts of the world. “Shareholders may feel some doul>: about the effect of these unusable v«c sels on the value of the company"assets, and your directors have satisfied themselves by an up-to-date valu ation of all the company’s plant and property, with the result that they cat assure our proprietary that the sum of £270,668, at which they stand in the balance sheet, is well and fully represented, with a substantia] equity to spare. Our policy to provide an up-to-date and efficient fleet of motorvessels to develop and maintain oui cargo services has been advanced by the building this year of our latesr ship, Waka. It is anticipated that another similar vessel may' be required before our next annual meeting. We have now ten motor-vessels activel' engaged.

“Your directors are satisfied that the most difficult period of transition m our business has passed, and, except, for the general depression in trade — which is, we hope, only temporary—everything indicates more buoyancy in the future operations of the company “During the year w r e have not been free from marine accidents, but we are glad to say that none of these has in any way been caused by careless ness or inefficiency on the part of the officers of the various vessels. “In spite of the general depression in trade it is interesting to note that the amount of cargo handled during the year lias exceeded that of law* year by some 7,408 tons. “It is with deep regret that I have to refer to the death of one of our oldest directors, the late Mr. J. H. Upton, which took place on May 28. 1929,” Mr. Robertson said. “The company’s plant has been well maint lined, a sum of £20.480 having been spent in repairs during the year “The directors recommend the payment of a dividend for the year ended March 31 last at the rate of 8 per cent., amounting to £12,918, half of which has already been paid In an Interim dividend, and to carry forward & balance of £ 9,545.