FARMERS' AUCTIONEERING COMPANY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 245, 26 March 1910, Page 5

FARMERS' AUCTIONEERING COMPANY.

Annual Meeting. The third annual meeting of the Farmers' Auctioneering Company was held at the offices of the company, Hamilton, on Saturday last. Mr J. Barugh, chairman of directors, presided, and there were also present Messrs, T. Paterson, W. Taylor, J. Davis. T. McMicken, H. S. Kewes, W. G. Park, W. Geake, J. Parlane, J. C. Smythe, D..M. Ross, A. J. Storey and W. H. Hume. The- balance-sheet was read as follows:—Liabilities: Nominal capit?] of 20,000 shares at £5, £-100,000; 9042 shares at £5 each, fully paid, £45,21,0; 2055 shares at £5 each, contributing £10,275; subscribed capital, £55,485; less uncalled 1349 shares at £1 10s, £2023 10s; less uncalled 181 shares at £2, £362; less uncalled 243 shares at £2 10s. £607 10s; less uncalled 83 shares at £3, £249; less uncalled 199 shares at £3 10s, £698 10s; £3938 10s. Called-up capital, £51,546 10s; less calls unpaid, £332; paid-up caioital £51,214 10s; account sales unpaid, £27,740 2s lid; amounts on fixed deposits £7639 4s ,7d; Bank of New Zealand, £18,102 7s 6d; amount on mortgage, £4000; reserve fund, £3750; special reserve for doubtful debts, £1500; balance profit and loss account, £9789 17s: total, £123,736 2s. Assets: Property account, £16,605 12s 6d; working plant, £505 16s 4d; bills receivable, £22,251 15s 9d; amount due to company on current accounts, £80,114 15s Id; cash in office, £69 10s Id; stock on hand, £I6BB 12s 3d; goodwill, £2500: total, £123,736 2s. The profit and loss account shows profits for 12 months ended January 31st, 1910, to be £9275 3s 6d, which with the balance brought forward from previous year of £514 13s 6d, gives £9789 17s, this being the capital available for distribution. 0 In moving the adoption of his annual report, Mr Barugh said he would like to have seen a larger attendance present, but he took it that where there was a small attendance at a meeting of that kind it was an evidence that shareholders were satisfied with the years' working. The business of the company was extending in all direc-. tions, and the only trouble was that the funds were not as extensive as they could have wished, to cope with the large business offering. They had been approached from districts below Mercer, above Tauranga, and from the King Country, not only to extend operations in the stock department, but with their produce as well. So far, i7o'«pv>=>r. the directors had not seen their way to accept these offers; the business the company was at present doing, although limited, covered a large area and they could cope with it without much expense. They were paying a 6 per cent, dividend, and it would be noticed that the balance showed nearly £59,000 paid-up capital, which ought to be a great inducement to farmers and others to invest their money in the company. Although they only paid a comparatively small dividend, yet it was a guarantee to shareholders that their money was safe. Speaking of the reserve fund, Mr Barugh said he had often been asked where it was placed. He thought that they wonlil agree with him, however, that it could hardly be safer than lent to farmers, as it at present was, at a three months' call. They had £750 entered as bad debts, which, although the amount looked rather big, was very smaii when it was considered that the turnover was something like £400,000. He thought that if they so arranged thflir business as to accept no risk in this respect, they would so curtail it that in a short time it would be worth comparatively nothing. The speaker briefly touched on the strike at Southdown and said that although it had affected their business to some extent, they bad now 19 slaughtermen working and 21 employed killing pigs. The work was very much improved and that day there would be 400 lambs, 43 pigs and 20-head of cattle put through, while next week the works would be in full swing again. The speaker mnde spe.cial mention of the good prices ruling for beef on the Home markets and said that at present as much as £1 per lOOlbs was being paid. He would therefore urge farmers to take advantage of the fair price offering. In conclusion the speaker paid a special tribute to the staff, and especially to the manager and secretary, who, he said, seemed to be gifted with a special knack of choosing good men. The adoption of the report and balancesheet was seconded hy Mr McMicken and carried unanimously. The report of Mr S. Chambers, auditor, was read by the clerk as follows, and adopted:—To-day J have attached my certificate to your company's balance-sheet, and in compliance with sub-section 2 of section 185 of "The Companies Act, 1908," I now have pleasure in submitting ,to you my report. It is very pleasing to see that the company has had.such a successful year, which gives you the power to eliminate the goodwill from your balance-sheet altogether and to set up large reserves for contingencies that may arise in the future and also to set aside large sums against the possibility of bad debts being made, and which appears to be far in excess of the actual requirement. This building up of large reserves will greatly strengthen the finances of your company, and the result will be that if success attends the future operations a" a it has the past, the shares will soon be at a premium; they would be at a premium now if it were not for the fact that more shareholders and capital are required. I trust that the time will come when the company has a capital of half a million and reserves equally as large. Such a company would have a tremendous effect for good in your district, and also upon its individual shareholders. During yea'r'V'hsjvJ! been doing' my 'b'est to.' itoprbye the system" "of" ' vouching, having authority for all entries that pass into your company's books, and. yciuv directors and staff have met me and have done all they possibly could to assist me in carrying out my wishes. They have not yet quite reached the goal at which I am aiming, but the improvements are, in my opinion, very marked, and if I am again appointed as auditor, I feel sure that my ideals will be fully attained. JD have to

report that the books are kept in a manner that is in every way satisfactory, and are always well up-to-date. The business is growing rapidly and so increasing the work of bookkeeping very considerably, more especially in the produce department, The stock of merchandise has been taken at landed cost, except in cases where the market has fallen since, and in these cases it has been taken at the present value. It is pleasing to notice that new shares are being taken up almost every week, so that the field of operations for the company has increased very considerably. All the officers in the company appear to take an interest in this direction, which is a very sound poHcy, and mu3t ■ eventually cause your company to be one of the largest of its kind in New Zealand. It would greatly benefit the company if members induced others to become members, and the effect would be that your shares would be at a premium at a very much earlier date and the directors and the managers woud have a far larger field to work in. I have to thank you for appointing me as your auditor for last year, and I have pleasure in offering you my services again for the current year. Mr Barugh was elected unopposed to the poistion of chairman, Mr G. Edgecumbe was again appointed scrutineer and Mr S. Chambers was elected auditor. Votes of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded the meeting.