TE AWAMUTU CHEESE AND BACON FACTORY CONPANY (LIMITED).

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1868, 26 June 1884, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU CHEESE AND BACON FACTORY CONPANY (LIMITED).

General meeting of Shareholders. I The annual general meeting of Shareholders in the above Company was held in the Public Hall, on Saturday 21st. inst., Mr J. W. Bridgmau chairman "of directors in the chair. There was a fair attendance. The Chairman after reading the notice in The Waikato Times convening the meeting, read the following annual report for the year ending 21st M.iy 1884. "Gentlemen, inlaying before you the balance sheet for this our second season's operations, your directois regret that the accounts now submitted i show that on those operations a loss has been incurred of £214 2s 6d. This may 1 be attributed to, Ist a large portion of the chese on hand, when the List balance 1 sheet was prepared having been badly made became unsaleable except at a nominal price. 2nd. The Company having been defendants in a law suit which went partly against them considerable loss was incurred. 3rd. The engine and i boiler supplied with the new plant hay- * ing been found unsuitab'e, a new one L had to be got at increased cost, and loss from fixing &c. In the mean:me an engine had to be hired to do the work. To the above causes the loss during the season is mainly due, but being excep- , tional are not likely to lecur. During ' the year your directois in anticipation of ; the met eased supph of milk, hid an addition built to the" tactoiy, iind a new • plant on the American principle was obtained, which they find of great advan 1 tage in sating labour, go that with the ' appliances now o:i hand they can work up to 1500 gallons per d.ty with case. The milk received dm ing the season, has not given a pound of cheese to the gallon, as some cheesemakere say it ought to do, but this lias probably been caused by the excessively wet summer. ♦•Yonrdirectors conbiili'i thatthepig branch of the ind.'btiy will become a source of great profit to the company, and is capable of considerable extension. The local demand for cheese being limited and the maiket easily glutted, it has been found necessary to try foreign muikets. With that object, and foi the puipose of seeming the Government bonus ot £300 foi the fiist fifty tons , exported, several pai cola ot cheese were sent to difFeient Austialiau ports, but the price realised owing to the high rate of freight, commission, and a protective duty of 2d per lb, left no margin for pioiit. Twenty-five tons have been sent to England in different lots, for which no return has yet been received, but as it was an excellent article a pajable pi ice is confidently looked for. Your directors have been unable to claim the Government bonus of £500 for the fiist fifty tons ot cheese exported, partly in consequence of delay in commencing operations, caused by the contratois not completing their contracts to time, and partly through some ot the milk suppliers discontinuing the supply the moment they imagined they could do better by making butter. The conduct of the faotoiy dining the season has given every satisfaction to the directors, and they aie much pleased, on this occasion, to recoid their appreciation of the energy and efliciency of the manager and his staff during tho time they havo been employed." The Secretaiy theu read the balance sheet. On the motion of the chairman, seconded by MrJ.L. MandenOjthereportand balance sheet were adopted. In the course of his sp-'ech the Chairmau pointed out that a profit of nearly 200 per cent, was made on the pigs, and he felt sure the company would make a large profit next season in this branch alone. Another drawback to the company is the high rate of freight on cheese to Auckhnd, £2 10s a ton being clnrged. If the height were reduced to 15b theie would l>e abettor margin foi piofit. In reply to a question, he said, the late was highr tor cheese than butter, in fact a special i ate waschaiged. Accoi Inig to the ai tides of as- ' sociatiou three of the directors have to retire annually, but ictiiiri£> dnectois aie eligible foi ie-elec-tron ; the retiring dnectois this )ear weio Me»si& J. W. Biiilgman, Jas. Cunningham, and J. H. Mandeno. These gentlemen and Mr Lewis vveie nominated, and as theie was one in excess of the number lequned, a poll was taken, which lestiltcditi the letiiing directors being re-elected, Mr Lewis being only one vote behind. MessisJas. Oiierson and J. L. Mxndeno were appointed auditois for the ensuing year in the loom of 1 Messrs C. J. Stoiey and M. M. Taylor who letiied, and to whom a lua'ty vote of thanks was accorded for their sci vices. A \oteof thinks was also accorded to Mcssii) \\ . Taylor and R. Burke for their services as managing directois. Mr W. Jones regretted to siy that directly the milk became valuable for making butter, some of the suppliers stopped bringing it, thereby reducing the quantity of w hey required for the pigs, and as the pigs w ould be a great soui cc of piofit this would seiiously affect the interests ot the company ; in shor t, some of the suppliers were merely making a convenience of the company, and some means would have to be devised to put a stop to this in the future. He explained that the levson theaveiage was less than a pound of cheese to the gallon of milk, was in agieat measure due to this fact, that milk at the latter end of the season gave a higher average than at the beginning, and also because a great quantity of milk had to bo thrown to the pigs owing to the machinery breaking down on one occasion. This being all the business the meeting broke up. . Mr Jones' remarks about milk being stopped directly butter advances in pi ice aie woi thy the gravest attention of the directors. People may think it a very smart thing to make use of the company, by selling the milk at the beginning of the season for a penny a gallon more than it ft worth for butter making, and keeping it back when they can make a halfpenny more by converting it into butter. It may be smart, but to put it mildly, it is dishonourable. The time will come when more milk will be offered than can be worked up, and when it does, I hope the diiectors will remember the smart gentlemen who made use of them, and reject their milk for that of those who will deal fail I}' with them. In spite of the loss of £214 (which has been satrbfactorily accounted for) the company is in a better position than it has been at any time. The quality of the cheese is excellent, and no expense will have to be incurred for additional plant and buildings. Of course, they are there to represent the money spent upon them. The first plant erected was useless, and such of it as was sold was sold at a loss. Now everything is complete, so there is no apparent reason why there should not be a surplus next year instead of a deficiency. A glance at the balance-sheet will show the return for the price paid for pigs to be very satisfactory. The enormous duty of 2d per pound, and the iniquitous commission charged in some cases, reduced the price of some of the cheese sold so much that there was no profit. A certain company through which a large parcel was sent made more by the transaction than the company. However, I fancy it is the laSt time they will have the chanrce to play that nice little game again. Another large ifcem is the freight to Auckland imposed by a fatherly Government. Seventy tons of cheese were turned out last season. At the rate of £2 10s the freight amounts to £175. So much for the advantage of rail com munication with Auckland. If the rate were reduced to 15s there would be a difference of £122 10s in favour of the company, nearly enough to buy all the amatto. rennett, salt, Ac., required for a year's work. The hen in the statement of receipts "Refund milk suppliers" ia explained in this way. Many of the cans did not-hold the amount guaraoteed by the maker, The diameter is less than in the oth wf, w^ffl all milk » qv^ured

by the measuring rod and not by weight it was some tine before the mistake was discovered, but when it was the suppliers refunded the amount over-paid. I append the balance-sheet and statement of accounts :—

Statement of Accounts. RhCKiPM. -Calls, £1440 14s ; cheese and bacon sold, £IGO3 10-. Od ; milk cans sold to suppliers, £93 13s; pigs sold, £91 IDs 4d ; grazing (paddock rent), £7 17s Gd ; plant sold, £31)1) lls 2d ; contractor's allowance on plant and milk cans account, £29 5s 9d ; freight recehed, £20 lls 4d ; builder's deposit receued with tender, £(5; refund building inspector's fee, £1 lls (id ; refund milk supplier:*, £33 3s Id ; refund law eo»H, £4 ; interest on ovcidue calls, £G ISa fid; balance bank overdraft, £1013 Gs Id ; total, €1752 s*. Expenditure.— Bank overdraft, 21st May, 1883, £900 2s 3d; additions and alterations to premises, £271 13s 9d ; additions and alteiatious to plant, £580 15a 5d ; paid for milk, £1535 5s 4d ; paid for pigs, £115 lGs 5d ; builders' deposit leturned, £6 Expenses of management : Wages, £429 los 2d ; duty on cheese sold, £149 2s 8d ; freight, carting, commission and other charges on same, £280 15s 8d ; insmance, £11 15s ; coal and firewood, £52 3s Gd ; jmnatto, rennett, cheese-cloth, salt, &c , £139 5s 8d ; pig feed, £21 9s 5d ; piinting, stationery, stamps and telegrams, £23 4s 9d ; office furniture, £1 Is ; office reut, £4 ; hire of engine, £22 ; rates and taxes, £7 5s lid ; making cheese bo\e=< and sundries, £1G Is; law costs, £39 lls Gd ; interest, £13G 0s 7d.— Total, £4752 ss. Balvnck-sheei'. — Liabilities : 3702shaieB allotted at £1, £3702 ; less amount uncalled at ss, £925 10-;, £277G 10^ ; amount due on moiqgage, £800 ; amount due for milk, £772 3s i)d ; sundiy accounts payable, £49 (is 4d ; inteiest Bank of New Zealand, £11 19b 4d ; interest, moirgage, £21 0-> Gd, £.°>G 8, lOd ; bank o vox draft, £1013 Gs Id ; total : £5147 15b. Ati&E in. —Calls unpaid, £55 15s; land and buildings, £1G32 4s ; plant, £773 4s 3d ; less 5 per cent, depreciation, £38 13s 3d, £734 lls ; cheese in stock and consigned for sale, £2101 19s 2d ; bacon and hams in stock, £204 1G& 8d ; .sundry account* receivable, £144 3t> Id ; office furniture, £9 9-, Gd ; lenuet, cheese cloth, timber. &c, £41; bilance, piofit and loss account, £430 lGs 7d; total : £5417158. Puorir and Lov-, Account. — To balance from year ended 21st May, 1882, £2l(i 14s Id ; net 10-,s for year ended 21st May, 1884, £21 1 2s Gd; total: £130 lGs 7d. By balance canied forward, £430 lGs 7d ; total: £1301G»7d. Examined and found correct. Signed — C J. fStoiey, M. M. Taylor. — (Own Correspondent.)