PATUA DAIRY COMPANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 August 1917, Page 8

PATUA DAIRY COMPANY.

ANiVUAL MEETING.

The finsuiil of the Pniiift Dairy Company v;w held at the factory, Mr, \\. Iloiii'ViioM (chairman of dim--tors) presiding ovtT ail a-Ui'iidarne of thirty-six sium-holders.

The annuai report congratulated the shareholders on the very satisfactory •results of the year jost' ended. After 'writing off £787 12s (id for depreciation, there remained a balance of £47i1l It fid to the credit of profit and loss ;i.ccouni. Thirty-live pounds bad been voted as a war "bonus to the manager and secretary, and the directors recommended a further payment to -suppliers of Sjjd per lb oil hlitierfat supplied between SepteinljiT 1, 11)10, and May J;'J7. whirl] v. otild ah:orii £IK!2 18s Kid. leaving a balance of £lfiS 2s 7d to be curried to the new account. The following statement was ako sub-mitted:—Number-of suppliers. 38; quantity of milk received. 5.430,40T5>; quantity of buUcrfat. Teeeived, 207.t>"!)1b: ■average test, ".,82 per cent.; ouaiititv -of hutter mad" (creamery), 10.0121b; quantity of butter made (whey), 10.703 lb: quantitv of cheese made (far-tory weight), .510.2001b; quantity of cheese made per lb bmierfat. 2.0301b: quantity ■of butter made per lb. butterfat. 17.01 per cent.; lb of mill; per lb of cheese, !) 0411b; averajre price per lb butterfat paid to suppliers during butter-making period, 17d: average price per lb butterfat paid to suppliers during cheesemaking period (this includes bomi6 of -sjd per lb), 20.75 d. CHAIRMAN'S REVIEW. The rhairman, in moving the adopticta of the report, said it was to be regretted that the amount of milk received for the twelve months from thirty-eight suppliers showed a decrease of 75011b. and butterfat 44551b. in comparison with the statement on the previous balance sheet, due to the long, dry summer experienced. Notwithstanding the fact that their mill; showed a decrease in quantity, he was pleased to note that the amount of cheese made showed an increase of and in whey butter an increase of filSOlb. The results proved that great credit was due to the manager for the very efficient way in which he had managed the factory during the past year. Very satisfactory prices had been obtained for their whey butler, our agents realising as high as 224s per cwt. in one instance; and the last account sale to hand for the Ruahinc showed that they had netted over Is 8d per lb f.o.b. for the whole shipment. The total va'ue of the whey butter made by the company during the part year was approximately £OSO.

The company commissioned its English ai-riiK Mp>»r* C 'ulloll, Whitefield and Co., Ltd.. to soil, if possible, half the output, approximately l'-!0 tons oil the i.rmdon market .at 1 <>i/,d per lb f.o.h ocean steamer. Xew Zealand. the balance in be shipped to them mi open consignment. He referred at some length to the ccmmandeerini: of cheese by the Imperial Coveniment. statin-- that upon arrival it! London of 4)11 erates of )h.c connMiiy'* elieci-e it \va« commandeerert. but it was considered manifestly uniair that the Imperial 'iovenunent sliohW place a iv-friction pri"e on XVw Zealand cheese whilst cheese from other Kiuives was rt'llins in the open market at liieh prices, and it was decided to test tin.position. With this object, he miderst.iod, the cervices of Sir Jonn Simon were °ngaged as counsel, and from cabled reports he believed the Imperial Government would be called upon to pay out another CJO per ton on cheese seized by I'iiem. anil which was shipped prior to the New Zealand Onler-in-Coimci!. They would also be entitled to claim from their agents :,';1 per lb on I'll crates of cheese .shipped, ex contract, prior to the date of Order-in-Council. At the present time thev Ik. . 571 orate* in the freezing works, and half of this would probably be pot away during the next four or five weeks. About C4OO was Still owing to the company by the Imperial Government on cheese unshipped. From the, statement of profit and loss it, would be seen that the butierfat lewcost the company the sum of CtitM 5s lid. Personally he did not hold out any hope of getting a refund of the money tiicy had paid, and the only safe thin.? wa/S to write it oil as a "immjigcinent expense" for the year, and this they had. done. Whatever 'sum tbey did receive, and any other PHrpliisc- they may receive from their English agents in connection with the cheese commandeered bv the Imperial Covernment at their end, would lie carried into profit anil loss account, and when everything in eonneetion with the last season was properly cleared up the surplus, if any. would be dealt with by the directors. There was a general increase in the amount of expenditure under the heading* of wages, working expenses and management expenses. This warf accounted for to some extent by the fact that the present .balance sheet was only for nine months. Owing to the big advance in the cost of .living they had to advance their rati- of wages to the factory staff very considerably. All materials used in the manufacture of cheese, especially rennet, had greatlv advanced in price, and consequently the cost of manufacture must also advance. On the whole the season had been a very good one, and in view of the very critical time the whole Empire was passing through at present they had cause to feel grateful for the good position they were in. The company had had to reduce its indebtedness to the bank by at least Clt!(}!> per annum, and the balance required over and above capital receipts had been made up through the medium of depreciation. They were slightly ahead of their undertakings in that respect, and it was better to keep so while markets were good. Mr. <i. ('!. (-rover seconded the motion, which was carried after a short discussiou. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS.

' Nominations were then invited for the five vacant seals 011 Hie directorate. The following nominations were received:— Messrs \Y. Honcyfield, (i. 0. flrover, 13. I{. McAllum, J''. \Y. Coombe, J. ,J. Gydo, 11. Woreiu and R. L Suisted. A ballot was taken, and resulted as fol-

lows: MeAllnm 09, Orover (IS, Honcyfteld III), Coomhr 50, Worsin 4!) (elected), Dougherty 42, (lyde 40, Suisted id'.). Air. K. P. Webster was re-elected auditor lit, a fee of £7 7s. GENERAL. It was decided that in future the directors be paid IDs for each monthly meeting attendee!. They woru also voted Ids per meeting for the past year. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the chairman and his co-directors for their services during the past year.