Westport Stockton Coal Co., Ltd.

NZ Truth, Issue 508, 13 March 1915, Page 6

Westport Stockton Coal Co., Ltd.

A Les«on m What Proferonoo Moans,

Ninth Balanco-eheot of Mining Struggle.

When the conatituUon of a company enables it to pay a divlaond of 8 per cent, to Ub proforaneo ahareholdoni, and .at the name time, the ordinary shareholder*, the larger body of proprietors, luiv« io go without a bean, It is time for out«ld«r« and Insiders to hove A good tulnk. Here Is v company tmit has been buttling from tho tlmo It wim rofficit^retl until now to open a. mine, handlnjr out tho princely rfltwru ot H per com. on preference capital, v mutter that tiMCM up £375. for the yrar. £8007 Ib written off for depreciation: £4GOO fcoca to reserve, and a txilwico la

carried forward of £1932, Juss "mmm [ £4 of last year's carry over. NoV, the large sum for depreciation looks as If there was something amiss with the price the company paid for their property, or else there are some outstanding difficulties about the cost of mining which this writer cannot trace from th© accounts, or the remarks of the chairman. It looks a proposition that should, be carefully left to those who own it, j and certainly does not give muoh en- ! couragemeht to those who may be ask-, ed to embark money m West Coast coal | mining ventures. This concern cannot I therefore be gauged by its bala£*^Jv j sheet. What the directors should r^W 1 j done, was to^append a full and lurnJa ous report from tho mine manager?^ the papers handed out to the shared holders. A map of the mine, and tha workings would do more than anything else to enlighten the shareholders about their property. Some reference is made to the "workings" by the chairman |q I his speech, and this glvos force to these I remarks. A mere, balance-sheet,^ or.even the declaration of an 8 per cent; . dividend leaves too much to the lmag- ! ination. Unfortunately all forms of '- MINING VENTURES ARE FULL OF 1 IMAGINATION. Therefore the special nfced for ascer* tamed facts about such speculations. Thi's company has a paid-up capital of £178,370, of which £46,900 is preference capital. Then it owes on deben^ ' tureß the large sum of £39,901, arid toordinary creditors £11,088. On < thY ! other hand, its assets total £247,022, Property account contributes £219,048; / but there is no certificate as to ■ the value shown. Sundry debtors £5134 is a large sum and may be quite free of bad debts, but nothing is said about these pests of trade. Cash m bank and on deposit £ 12,2.34 gives a healthy rlngr to the profits. But let us make a guess at the profit jon the. coal. The output for the year was 149,638 tons, some of which, no doubt, was used m tho worn- • ing of the mine. Divide this into tha net profit for the year— :£ 16,316 and weget 2s 2^4 d per ton. Someone is making a lot of money out of this company* or else the company does not know now i to market the coal at a payable .price. Everyone knows the price of housenold coal, most of which slides into the pockets of the shipping ring. Steam coal value is pretty well knorwn, and; that too gets lost m the greedy pockets • of the freighters. But 2s 2%d per ton to be, all that Is left! Well, what do you think?. Yet people say this coutn try has no {rusts, or coal rings In ik My sides get sore with laughing whenever this remark is made. But good, luck to the Westport Stockton Coal Cd., Ltd. They are doing their beat; no doubt. ■ ■ ■• ■■• ■