THE D.I.C.'S YEAR

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 103, 28 October 1932, Page 8

THE D.I.C.'S YEAR

EFFECTS .OF. EXCHANGE

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) DUKEDIN, This Day. At the annual meeting of the Drapery and General Importing^mpany (D.1.C.), the chairman, lit. Vf; h Is, stated that the company's capital,;;;; j,922, had been practically the same forTthe . last five years. Their indebtedness to the bank had grown by £30,902, as compared with last year. On the other hand, they owed sundry creditors £57,428 less, and the aggregate of the two accounts showed a reduction of £20,526. Reserves stood at the substantial figure of £85,248, and with the addition of the balance carried forward at £113,547 on the asset side, and stocks *!,,„ ' 4' oo0> the 3' showed a' decrease of £10,042 against last year. They were the loivest since 1917, when they stood at £164,754.

'Ihfe gross profit for the year," he said, ■shows a falling off of £58,969, which is explained in part by a change in our bookkeeping system whereby London exchange is now charged against each branch, thereby reducing the gross profit. In the past exchange has been treated through the head office account, and the branches did" not bear the charge for this item. We not only had to contend with the uncertainty of a high exchange rate on London, and the difficulty of providing funds in London for our purchases, but with continuous interference in business by the Government, no doubt with the intent of assisting private enterprise in all directions, but in face of the benevolent intentions of the Government, the reports of the National Expenditure Commission divulge how successive Governments for the last twenty years or more have set a glaring example of utter disregard of economic principles in the administration of our country."