Information sought

Press, 2 March 1981, Page 20

Information sought

in hU' letter to the secretary of. New Zealand Land Securities Mr White says:—• “It is the opinion of The New Zealand Shareholders Co-operative that in the matter of the proposed takeover of the company by a private company, certain information already pul'■-li-ed In annual reports of the company should be repeated, and other information hiade available, to' permit shareholders to decide the fairness or otherwise of the offer; and it is intended that this opinion will , be passed on to as many shareholders of the company as possible. .“The following points are considered, relevant'. 1. Shareholders', funds at Jun® 30, 1980 stood at. $?24,491 on the balance -sheet, which equals .2d .cents- a - share. However, note 8 of the 1980 accounts < states „ that; the market value of the land and ~ a going concern ‘ivvas 752,380,000, ~-a figure 'WI/ftS. greater than the' balance sheet figure, if this surplus is regarded - a® belonging to.the’ whole body of as lt should, tihe shareholders’ funds rise to the equivalent of 41 cents

a share. If account Is also taken of 45 per cent of the amount of $375,000 agreed tax losses with the Inland Revenue, another $i70,000 is added to the funds and 6C to the shat® value taking it to 47c. 2. Shareholders have had a pretty raw deal from the company, culminating last year in having the face value of their shares reduced from 50c to 25c, because of the huge. losses made on property disposals. 3. However, we were told at the last annual general meeting that there will probably be a profit of about $20,000 for the first half of the current year. If profitability in the future is likely to become a rule rather than an exception, this should not be overlooked in any assessment uf the value of the company, 4. A comment was made to the board at the last annual general meeting, that the number of reserves aftd- provisions in the accounts must be a record,

These make th® figures extremely difficult to unravel, attd it was not surprising satisfactory answers to questions were, not always given, certain matters were clerk fled, and the meat product speculation Was explained lb some detail. Th® answers to questions 6n th® day, coupled with the performance of the company in previous years, left the impression of rather a dense jungle, and a certain Uneasiness.

“Calculating shareholders’ funds equivalent to 47c a share can only be an approximation, but the factors taken into account are not theoretical. The Co-operative believes, and recommends shareholders to insist on, a current valuation of all company properties is required, to give an indication of its true worth, for comparison with any proposed oftefj- the work ,to b® undertaken -by independent' WK tor,' f Mr Whit® gays. -.'7; ■' ■'