NELSON BROS., LIMITED.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 100, 10 April 1911, Page 11

NELSON BROS., LIMITED.

A BETTER YEAR FOR FROZEN MEAT.

London, Feb. 22.

The 27th annual general meeting of Nelson Bros., Ltd., was held yesterday at the Cannon-street Hotel, under the presidency of Sir E. Montague Nelson. The Chairman expressed the hope that the shareholders would regard the balance-sheet as a. thoroughly satisfactory one. The capital and reserve account stood the same as in the previous bal-ance-seet, but it was now proposed to add £22,306 to the reserve fund, increasing it to £60,000. The profit and loss account showed a credit balance this year of £56,344, against a debit balance last year of £32,490. The difference between those two figures to the credit of this year’s account was £88,834.

On the other side of the balancesheet the freehold land stood at only £32,*914, or £20,739 less than in the previous balance-sheet. During the year they sold 11,617 acres, and all they held at present was 1750 acres. The item of buildings, machinery, and plant stood at £98,000, showing an increase of £2417. They wrote off for depreciation £7716 during the year, so that meant that they had spent on additions about £lO,OOO. He thought that all their works in. New Zealand must'now be well up to date. The item of investment figured at £365,000, showing an increase on last year of £24,226, and the average return on all their investments in the past .year was £6/6/11 per cent., compared with. £3/9/8 per cent, in the previous year. The increase was mainly owing to a higher dividend from the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company. The live stock stood in the present balancesheet at £3730, showing a decreases of £9243 on the amount shown in the previous year. That was a. natural consequence of their having sold the 11,000 acres of land to which he had referred; and the sheep had gone with the land.

A SATISFACTORY BALANCESHEET. With a balance-sheet such as that now presented to the shareholders, it was not necessary for him to make many comments. A year ago he had to explain a considerable loss, and he summed up the causes of that loss as an increased supply and a decreased demand in regard to frozen meats, caused by the bad state of trade in this country. In the past year there had been very considerably increased importations even over chose of the previous year, and there had been no particular drop in the price, but there had been an increased supply and an increased demand which had balanced it, and he thought that that fact was due to the improved state of trade in the country, which had led to a considerable increase in the purchasing power of the people.

He concluded by moving the adoption of the report and accounts and the payment of the dividends recommended—3 per cent, on the preference shares, making 6 per cent, for the year; and 4 per cent, on the ordinary shares, making 7 per cent, for the year, free of income tax. Te motion was carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the manager in New Zealand, the Colonial staff, and the secretary in London was passed, and a similar vote was subsequently accorded to the chairman and the directors.