POVERTY BAY FARMERS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 81, 3 October 1923, Page 6

POVERTY BAY FARMERS

MEET COMPANY'S AFFAIRS

STATEMENT BY THE BANK.

A full report of the extraordinary meeting of the shareholders of the Poverty Bay Farmers' Meat Company, Ltd.^.held^fl. Gisborne' yesterday, will be found on page 9 of this issue. Keferences arc made in that report to the action of the National Bank of New Zealand (the company's bankers) in the matter of a proposed sale of the undertaking to Veatey Bros. The general WU&ger of the National Bank was seen by "iho Post to-day with reference to the full report of the Gisborne meeting. Be.Hid that while he was not disposed .to traverse the report generally, yet there:'was much in it that could be either correotod or amplified into full truths j but he would refer to the follewinatwo points!— (l)l^The .statement that he (the general 'manager) had "frankly admitted te the deputation of directors of the pemßfiny that he was only forcing the pesllio'n now because of the immediate pyeapcet of gelling out to Vestey Bros." js not correct. The deputation was infermed that the bank would insist upon a ssJe. because the company's capital— yuld and uncalled—was completely lost: »nd that even after writing this off the valns'iof the assets, upon any reasonable bttsig wag considerably less than the liabilities ; that the company therefore could'not possibly carry on, and the kanlr; could not in its own interests lose the opportunity of the sale. (2) The statement attributed to Mr. Matthews that "the general manager t>f the bank had wired the Gisborne jnanager that. . . "Vestey'a held an Essnranco that the Government would not object to the transfer" is quite incorrect. What the general manager did state-- was that the bank held an assurBnce".from the Government that, having tegard to all the circumstances, a transfer would not be objected to by the Government. Vestey's have not approached either the Meat Board or the Government in the matter, and, consequently, could not possibly hold any assurance fronueither.