NO BONUS THIS YEAR.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20214, 17 April 1931, Page 12

NO BONUS THIS YEAR.

NATIONAL MORTGAGE AND AGENCY COMPANY. NEED OF ECONOMY. {PSOH OUS OWN COBHESPONDEST.) LONDON, March 12.

Lord Hampden, K.C.8., G.C.M.G., as chairman <of the company, presided at the. • annual meeting of the 1 National Mortgage and Agency Company ;of New. Zealand,. Limited, 'yesterday. , In addressing ,the ; shareholders . he first referred to the death of Mr Lindsay Eric Smith, who had been director of, tho • company since ita. inception. Shareholders would be asked to confirm the appointment of his son, Captain E. C. Eric Smith, to be a.director. "The board had every confidence that- a better ; appointment, could not be made. . .Keferring to the- balance-sheet, the chairman said the issued capital was increased by .the issue, of £88,579 B ordinary shares, and was the result,- at the date of, tho balance-sheet; of the offer made to the -shareholders in January,. 1930. Reserve fund was:increased by £06,434, premiums received on the-above issue of B shares,, and now stood atra total of .£360,434. Debentures issued were decreased by £58,606, mainly due to repayments made in November,- 1929. Loans against securities showed' an increase of £134,000. Clients required extra'accommodation ,at the present time,', and the high rate of exchange also had the effect of restricting financial operations between the two countries. Sundry creditors was decreased by £99,819, and bills payable showed an increase of £28,190, due to an increase in purchases of Calcutta goods shipped in execution of orders from New Zealand.

On the assets side, premises, plant and furniture were increased by £7615, goods' on hand were increased by £28,445, loans on mortgages and secured accounts were increased by £119,963. Advances on wool showed an increase of £30,453, Current accounts showed a decrease of £ 24,214, and' cash and investments showed a decrease of £14,205. accounted for by a lesser amount of bills receivable on" hand. The gross profit showed a reduction of £13,311, which .was after providing for a loss made at the Longburn. Freezing jWorks. He regretted to say .that the heavy fall in values throughout,the year, particularly of wool and mutton, resulted in the loss referred to. ' Oh the debit side,'charges were decreased by £3455; New Zealand land and income tax showed an increase of £7034; interest on debentures .a decrease of r

Need of Economy. ' ' .Since, last addressing ■ shareholders (the _ chairman continued) values had continued to, fall, .and in .consequence the rcsnlts tot the year were disappointing. , They, could hardly bo otherwise in vie# .of the universal depression which had 'existed. AH interested in New Zealand nm6t have read with satisfaction the statement issued at "Wellington last month by the Prime Minister, embodying proposals for drastic-economics in public administration in-order to balance the Budget; and ithey could confidently expect that JStev Zealand > finances:would' be-»ad. 'p» :,4he liuca"advh>cd by Sly. Otto Niemoyfra short time ago,"'when fit thQfpiist. t lto}ffyri, a;high m the ovcrsijas lop ding marifct,.,J»jjfc'ih.: its own interests, should :?'ot away,, by that'-reputation into overseas borrowing which would .productive.. ( , The /price at lyhieh NewV,Z<j?&|ngi Government stocks now indication.'that, in* the City of XfjidDl. tW r people; Best qualified., to judge-in, these -matters had.-every, eoDfidenca-ihat; New-Zealand finance was going'tp -bV conducted oit sane" and*sound Uracil.',' <• As to tho,-prospects-of-the business iii the' future, the eh airman thought .woul&liea TTold man who , wo'utd' ventprcon "any fowftast of the 'length of time the present 3epres*i<ra, exis|:,.aY(d it" was with.',tho state <jof.> trada-.jua Mother .-Country and' |the spending power of its inhabitants, ithalj .the-prosperity of. New land of "companies such as thefts-was abound ap." r It' was jiot unreasonable to liave cop-*, ( plete<confldenee that a 'return to bet&g* and- would .unfi. if the. various - whic£|l.ii& Ifluenced. each, ■Utile they t .in-* trade V wjuld' cpjne tunUaft", and'suddenness movement. . ;• , The chairman said t hat-it' was-wittr every Tegret that the Board had to decided tocut off the. bonus to v tho -staff. They recognised that it was, hard, they, should have to suffer in " this' .way. through no 'fault' of their owh. Under present wise . management entailed economies, and however accessary and universal these oiight.be, they were, none the less; unpleasant. > After mailing reference to the earthquake in 'New Zealand, the chairman then moved; "That the report and. accounts be''received and ladopted, and that a dividend at the rate of 7£ per cent, per annum, free.of income tax; be declared' for the half year ended September 30th, last, mailing .with tho interim dividend 74 per cent, for the year,..and that the balance of - £ 13,813 18s 4d be ■ carried; forward' to the next account.

The report and balance-sheet were adopted, the appointment of Captain, B. C. Erif Smith as a director was confirmed, and- the retiring*, directors; Mr H. J. Beawicfc and Lord Grlenconn'er, ■were re-elected. .

Extraordinary General Meeting. An extraordinary general meeting was subsequently herd for the purpose of making two alterations in the ATtieles of Association. The first reso : lution dealt with Article No. 64, which originally read: "Until otherwise detertermincd by the' general meeting the number of drectors shall not be lcs,s than'six", or more than ten." It was now proposed to amend the Article by deleting the words -"six" and. "ten" and substituting the words "five". and "nine'? therefor.- The minimum number of directors was; thus reduced to five and tho maximum, number to nine. The chairman" explained, in answer to a question, that the Board wished to have the right to keep the number of directors at five if they thought;+t expedient in the future. This was for motives of economy, and the fees of the ditectoys' would remain the same as if there were six or more. In . answer to' another question, the chairman- said that the 'directors had submitted along with the rest of the staff to the 10 per cent, reduction in their fees." The necond amendment was in relation' to which deals with the documents sent to shareholders as required by: the Statutes. The chairman explained that in order to comply with the requirements of the London StocVExchange, at the time of the issue of the netf'B ordinary shares in January of last year, the Board gave an undertaking to the Share and Loan department to amend this article at the first convenient opportunity. 1 The resolution setting out the amendments was-adopted.