ORIENT LINE'S YEAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19235, 26 January 1926, Page 12

ORIENT LINE'S YEAR.

LARGER PROFITS EARNED. CAPITALISATION OF RESERVES. INJURY BY SEAMEN'S STRIKE. "FEOil or?. GWX COSRESPOXDSXTS. ] LONDON, 'Dec. IS. The capitalisation of a portion of the compsriv's reserves was forecasted by the chairman of the Orient Steam Navigation Companv. Sir Kenneth Anderson, in his address to the annual meeting.. Reviewing the past year's operations, he said thai alter providing for depreciation axsu cociiiieencies. the profit was £333.790, as compared with £295,0 i 5 last • year- J. he - « . . i fOftA IVY) hj« jaaoaeers recommences taav -- n-erred to genera! reserve account, ana that dividend on the deferred shares at. the rate 12j per cent., free of income tax, t>s paid. The eoißoany bad cameo mors- pssseDsrers, hah outwards and homewards, and the earnings under these headings were bisrger. There were indications that travel for business reasons was on the increase, but they were stiii a vrav from carrying the number of saloon ¥. which they carried in 191243. Increased inoairv for round-the-world measure travel, tut here agam they nad ],--ewcv to make up before they aprrcached their pre-war figures. Mfgrst:on traffic shoved no signs ot expansion; it was difficult to say tna*.- a*V advance 'whatever had been made, despite ■* tV srace work which, during the last f T? years, bad been dene in tins country f r ,. promotion. Shippers of outward cargo continued to give the company good snpnort. and thev had derived some slight benefit from the aggregate increase ... berth cargo shipped from the east coast ports of the United Kingdom during the The volume of berth tonnage, ofter"mz was still, however, on the average ICO per cent, in excess of the cargo available'

But for the- oonsorvativfi policy pursued by the managers in live- past, n. %von3o have been verv dsfhcnlt. if not- iinposs. ....e, to build up the fine fieet they now posand for th3l roason, as web as if meet other contingencies, foreseen or cnforeseen. tMv mast coDtinae to add to tieir reserves. Those reserves had «3r r-jdv been transi'i tod in part- into flxod ships or 'otherwise m the cosspsßj" s onsi--ncss. siid this process would 'ccotiaae. Thai being so. the managers were eonsirring whether it vrotild not he desirable to male tie capitaJ access! rwicct jeere aoetiiratEly than it did ice saaotmi of m-cnev which the shareholders had a! risk in the busies®, ami the rate of reTarn trMrii they received upon that SBCser. Wh aterer adjmsiiaexil 1 her jzi-shx reccmmeßS in the capital Bcoount, they would net ten template the capitalisation of more than so2 ; s portion of the reserves, ihc-Bgh they were al. represented by net: assets" which stood in the books 3-li a i S-3.16 T&iil2 Boferrißg is the seamen's shrike Sir Kenneth Anderson said it bad indicted eocr-ao-as iDissEis on lie ora:ar£,:-fes ing the fund cot. of which wages wtk* paid, and in .so iw as ihtm losses were represented by ihe insght which the ships .sheaM 'have carried, it had pro taste* gme to strengthen -the position ©I our foreign CDiupetitois, vbo war®- paying ;absai half. the wages. .current <m British ships. It had brought discredit on tbe good faith of British .seamen, it bad In£iri«S a blow »t trade aeionisna and the principle of collective bargaining, .and si bad ilso esiiiil-fii snob inrenvsmesce -and Joss to procboers, importers and exjHsarlens. Bat far this_ deplorable setback it- weald luw» been possible .to look fc>rwaM'l»Cf»fnlly t-o the rasaJts of the -correct year. Shipping in gfsoeial was vtffi a very black spot, if not tie blackest- spot ©I all, hat .shjpswners had never ashed for subsidies. SVnsi they di£ ask' for was Crov-erninent eoßßOjay and lower taxation, a halt in she incessant growth of statoiorr regulations, and; abstention on the part of sfe® Owtramorn- from ratifying and giving ©Sect to international oonventions before -they had been ratified and .given -effect lo by "other maritime nations.. The report was mmiSmm&j adopted.