KAUPOKONUI DAIRY CO.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1918, Page 8

KAUPOKONUI DAIRY CO.

&NSTOAI MEETING. The twentyjfirst annual meeting of the Kaupokonui 'Dairy Company was held at the factory yesterday, -when Mr. W. D. Powdrell, chairman of directors, presided oyer an attendance of about 180 shareholders, including several ladies. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. In moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, the chairman said that, though they had sold their cheese to the Imperial Government during the season just ended at Md, as against 9'/;d for the previous year, the pay-out this year was.-rfot so high, owing to the fact that during the previous season, for four or five months pending completion of 'negotiations, they had forwarded a con« sideroble quantity of produce Homo on open consignment, and this made the average price received for the season'* output higher, thus enabling a higher pay-out- He traversed the balance-sheet at length. Their properties had stood on the books at £OS 511, but during the 21 years of its existence £37;639 had been written off in depreciation, and as Kaupokonui and Auroa factories and part of Kr.puni and Sheet Road were built in concrete, the depreciation on them was not very great. The reserve fund stood :it .£16,270, mainly built up by the profits made from agencies outside the milk moneys. That fund was steadily growing, and ho pointed out that a company cnuld only get richer by means of its reserve fund, whereas if they allotted more share capital they would have to pay interest thereon. The redemption account stood at £27,432, and these two accounts showed the financial condition of the company to be very satisfactory. The turnover of the store showed an increase of nearly 100 per cent, during the past five years—viz., £01.378, as compared with £33,209 in 1913-14. A table of tests published with the bal-ance-sheet showed that .the test must be taken into consideration when comparing the pay-out with that of other companies. The test of this company was 3.R0. the highest along the coast. The company invited the suppliers to test against them at any time, and, as proof 1 that they were being given all that was in it. some samples that were tested by the fiovernment tester showed that the manager had. read the test very fully, giving the supplier any benefit as against the factory. The test was averaged in the only way possible. The milk supply had increased from 54,704,0001b to 58,119,0001b. Of this increase 350,0001b was due to supply from the Riverdalc factory early in the season, showing, therefore, an increase of over 3,000,0001b. During the year 300 new shares had been allotted, a very satisfactory increase, The overdraft on the store account stood at £25,044- This was a very large amount, but was due to the fact that goods had showed an increase up to 35 per cent., and they were forced to carry heavy stocks of benzine, manures, etc., the stock on hand being valued at £33,000. Taking into account the credit balance in the factory account, the overdraft stood at £ll.lOO. The deposit account stood at £15,190, showing the confidence that was reposed in the concern. There was owing to the company £;2S,t)B4" ton mortgage, whilst the company owed £4500 This was due to tire company having bought and sold farms, tied up the milk supply for the company, left the money on mortgage,' and placed the profits to the reserve account. The store account shows a profit of £4477, after taking off depreciation and paying for the motor delivery van .out of the year's working. The stocks had been valued on a conservative basis, and he read the stocktaker's report in support. Requisites showed an increase of £3254 over the previous year, due to the rise jn prices and to the fact that it was deemed necessary to obtain heavy stocks in view of probable shortage. In the store, stocks showed an iucrea=e of £9034, due to the fact that they had opened a store at Auroa for the benefit of suppliers, which had proved very successful. Sundry debtors stood at £44,340, the biggest proportion being due by the Imperial Government. Store book debts stood at £9051, not an abnormal amount in view of the tumi over, comparatively little being due by I non-shareholders. Their holdings in outr side concerns had increased by £449, due to increased shares in the Box Company. All were absolutely good, and he pointed out that they had only put £250 ca«h into the West Coast Refrigerating ' Company, the profits from which had ■ been allocated in extra shares, with the result that their holding was now £ 3655 ]!>s fid- They had 50 shares in the Combined Buyers, Ltd., a federated association and he considered this a good concern, as lie had got half the money back that he had paid for his shares. The company also had £250 in the Patea Fanners' Freezing Company, on which 10 per cent- interest would be paid this year. Repairs and renewals in the store Recount showed a decrease. Salaries had increased by £1584, due to the higher rate of wages paid, and he considered that it was only fair when they obtained increased prices for their employees to share therein. Cartage also showed an increase of £U42, partly from tiie same reason, also on account of the extra amount of coal carted. The waggons had also cost a considerable sum for re-

pairs, and one had been off the road for some time. The company, however, had put on a manager who was capable of doing the repair work, and a complete set of necessary tools lind heen obtained. Firewood ana coal showed an increase of £llO7. Requisites had increased by £3284, due to the abnormal rise in price. The whey butter manufactured (£10,804) showed a considerable increase, whilst ft total turnover of the company, exclusive of the store, was nearly a quarter of a million. The interest account showed a credit of £447, demonstrating that they must have had an annual credit balance of £9OOO. Some people, he said, measured a company's success bv tiie" amount of its overdraft. He gave figures to show the financial stability of the company, pointing out that the liabilities consisted of:—Overdraft £l-1,180, outstanding accounts factory and store £3515, deposits £15,190, sundry creditors £SSS7, owing on land £4509, shares allotted £39,252, moneys owing mortgages £13,109, share's 'in the redemption hind, £13,716. The other half he considered was actual profit, having been written off, and he instanced the present factory site, which had been purchased for £ 12, and now stood on the book? fit nothing. At present he eftirnated it was worth so much per foot, but if they estimated it at £OO or £7O per acre ;t_ would be very low. The total liabilities, therefore," wero £159,003 Against these were assets as followAST,mi, machinery and plant £B3 001 war loans £4050, motor lorries £3»Go' Auroa store .01358, cheese and butter requisites £HI ,000, stores £33 437 =un dry debtors £44,340, advances £4123 owing mortgages £13;100, shares in outside companies .CM.S39, Joyce's farm f«W , rcae 7"- £lfl >™>. profit store ±222,342 or an excess of £02,739. which made each share worth £2 I*, He pointed out that a company would only get richer by the amount of its reserves and last year the company had gained in this way £15.077, and next, year, when their new store v available, he hoped tha company woni- ~: richer by £IBOOO or £20,000, which would go into the capital account. He ~aw that one company had taken credit for being clear of debt. Well, Kaupokonui was not only clear of deot, but £02,000 to the good. Tiie company had purchased the lease of the .land across the river, and it was heped soon to do away with some of the horse teams and let the land to orovidc additibnal milk for the factory ' The company had purchased an electric waggon, which should come to'hand next week. At night-time it was proposed to stop one of the freezers and charge the waggon by dvnanio driven by w.H.-r. power, practically free of cost. " If was thus hoped, to save considerably on the cost of cartage to 'Hawera. The waggon had cost £ 1900. as against a motorwaggon at £IOOO.

Kaupokonui had been the first company to erect its own cool store at the factory. This effected a considerable saving in shrinkage, and was recognised by the Government as a grading store. It had cost £3370, and had earned £3OOO in storage, though Tt was not completed until November 24 . He paid \i tribute to the work of the manager (.MrFarley) in getting the store ready for use. Unconsidered the directors were justified in erecting this store, which had more than paid the cost of erection,.besides saving considerable shrinkage, when other factories had to store in unsuitable buildings. He considered also that the directors were warranted in expending £3500 in the erection of new storage, which he was hopeful would be more than paid for this time next year. The Government, he said, had asked them if t!vy could see their way to erect additional jtorage in view of the shipping difficulty, and had offered to finance its erection, but the directors had not decided if they would accept, the offer. They were erecting these iiew buildings vith the idea that they could be utilised for the manufacture "of dried milk or sugar of milk. -The profits from storage voiild be placed to reserve, but after the buildings were paid for the directors would decide whether to continue paying it to reserve or to butter-fat.

Last year the company had had the Mggest expenditure in new work in its History, oven including the year of the tire. This expenditure totalled £10.544. and included new cool store £3400,' partly rebuilding Kapuni and Skeet Road factories'in concrete, manure store and requisites store, also concreting the water-race and tunnel This expenditure did not affect the pay-out, as it was'*done out of capi. tal account or on overdraft. He briefly touched on the question of dried milk and sugar of milk, stating fiat as soon as the other two Waikato delegates had returned from America, their information would be available to the committee. Meanwhile, Mr. Cooper was endeavoring to obtain what, information was available in the South Island. Personally, he favored sending delegates to America, and it had been said that Powdro]l_was after the trip. However, he could assure them that he would not go to America for £2OOO per year, i't Was, however, necessary to obtain .the test information when purchasing expensive machinery, and he instanced the case of a proprietary company that had liad to throw out machinery' valued at £40,000. The need for having the most oconomjeal aiu], up-to-date machinery in any business could not be too' much stressed, and he pointed out that it paid his freezing cQfnpany at Patea to throw out any canning or other machinery which (became .superseded. Mr Farley had 'been appointed manager, and the directors had no reason to legret their choice, Mr. Farley being unsparing in his efforts on the company's behalf. They had also appointed an engineer, who had also proved a success. The directors recognised the worth of their employees. Tla expressed bis regret at the retirement from the directorate of Mr. "W. IT. ha Fleming, who had been a dire ctor for many years, having borne the heat and burden of the struggle in placing KauOQf.onui in the position it was that.day. Kanpokcnui, said Mr- Powdrell, was (he first concrete factory in New Zealand, the first to instal its own electric power and its own water service, having t supply that would go hundreds of feet over the building; the first to instal concrete whey tanks, though not the first to separate its whey; it was the grst to go in wholy for whey separation, which now produced over £'10,000; the first to start a loan company to assist its suppliers ,* one of the first factories to instal pas'-! teurisers, and certainly the first to pasteurise the whole of Us. supply; the first to purchase its own motor-waggons; the first to purchase an electric wagsou; the, first to run its own store; ami, he lidded, though there was great opposition at the time, .nearly every factory now had its small;, store, but .most o'f them had started iff.years too late; the first to go .in for its own motor'gar«gej the-only one to go" itt for the en.'

chase of land in order to tie up the milk for the factory. A voice: And the first company to put tlie shareholders in the cool chamber for their annual meeting! Continuing, Mr. Powdrell said that it was the .first company that went in for the system of purchasing suppliers' shares; the first to go in for herd testing paid for by the factory, which had been very beneficial not only to the supplier but to the company; and one of the first- to go to the assistance of the Government in this great war by lending it £4OOO. He then formally moved the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Mr. R. Dunn seconded. THE DISCUSSION. In reply to points raised, the chairman said that the fanners had onlv invested £14.000 in the Patea_ works,' and this years balance-sheet showed them to be worth £75,000. The directors had had to carry a load of £195,000, and as they were now putting up storage accommodation for n further 60,000 carcases, would probably have to find a quarter of a million, because the fanners did not give them sufficient financial support The investment in the bacon company had'proved/one of the best the company had ever made. The strict reading of the alteration in the rules was that no one could participate in the allocation of share profits unless holding 20 shares in the factory. He thought this should be made retrospective, so as to enable those who did tint hold 20 shares to qualify for taking piofits. It took from 7 to 12 veils to make a gnllonThe report and balance-sheet were adopted. ELECTION OF DERECTOES. Mr. A Gamliti was elected unopposed to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Mr. W. H. Le .Fleming. For the three vacancies hj; rotation there were five nominations. Messrs M/Kenzie and Berry were appointed scrutineer?, and the election resulted:— Messrs T. A. Bridge 352, E. Long 315, W. T. Wells 272 (re-elected), W. Duff 173 S. J. Bennett 82. '

A vote of appreciation of the services of Mr, W. H. Le Fleming during his lonconnection with the directorate was w aniniously carried, and Mr Le Fleming replied, Mr. IT. A. Lennon was re-appointed auditor at a fee of £4O. The directors' f«s were fixed at £1 per meeting. "Wurman's honorarium was fixed ■h £1,50 'o, the ensuing year, with a tonus of £IW for last yoir. GENERAL. nnS? f hair " mn sta i etl «>at it was nropose* t, par out 2> of flu iwm;*" on September 20. Mr. Sandford moved that it be a reommendation to the directors to show their recogmtion of the services rendered by the manager Mr. Farley) j„ connee. .tared that the reason why the whole Profits of the store could not bed! o 5,^ le P O,l^of the directors wa After a brief discussion a<s tr> l-„„ mg water out of the of tha„k s was accorded the ladiej whn £ d ' SpenSed and afternoon