The Golden Bay Cement Works, Limited

NZ Truth, Issue 538, 9 October 1915, Page 4

The Golden Bay Cement Works, Limited

Eighth Annal ,;Report^ ; and Balancesheet. — First Dividend Declared When "Cambist" reviewed the above company m October, 1913, hie finally concluded that the company had just about got "upon its feet," and that its future would greatly depend upon its success m finding a .market for its products. He also, m the following year, drew attention to the large amount of debt the concern was carrying, 'and made no bones about the folly that declaring a dividend would amount to, if such a course had been taken by the direotors. This year the company declared a 6 per cent, dividend, and this is the first it htis.evei? declared. It is to be hoped thal'it is but the beginning of fat years. Every channel of manufacturing enterprise that the Dominion offers should be fully exploited by our own people, so that there may be remunerative returns for capital arid" Tabor. The genuine channels of Wealth production can only be tappgd by the industries based upon' . ". .'."' ; OUR FIELDS AND FACTORIES. It is for that reason, our legislation' should be moulded not only to encourage true industry, but also to foster it by every means possible. Our. industries have to fight not only foreign competition, but .they have to battle against the sweated industries of our Motherland. They have also the awakening industrial efforts of the East to contend with as well., Added to these underlying factors there is the competition of. America to be considered, so that, looking at our own affairs, the outlook for this country, In. a manufacturing sense, is one to cause deep thinking and vigorous . action. There is a veritable war on hand for the economic development of New Zealand, and the sooner that all our resources are mobilised for the coming fray the better it will be for ihis country. It is on account of the importer that so little protection is given to our manufacturing industries,' and that is the real cause for seeing the country tramped over by Japanese and other foreign agents seeking for markets which should only belong to ourselves. How much harm the cement and match, industries are going to suffer from Japanese enterprise helped on by the local middlemen, it would be useless to conjecture. It is well -to consider these matters m the right quarter, that is, m the pockets of investors who have put their good money into this and other local industries. The time has arrived when Capital and Labor must come closer together m this country m order to save the present standards of life conditions m the Dominion from further depreciation, induced by the COMPETITION OF DUMPING COUNTRIES. The capital of the company remains at £60.000 paid up. It still has tt debenture issue of £25,000 to provide Interest upon, and owes on mortgage £21G0. Not having the terms of the debenture issue before him, nor of the small mortgage, "Cambist" regrets that he cannot as fully express himself as he should like. All he can venture to say is, that he trusts there are no bars to prevent the company from paying off this heavy load of debt whenever it has the opportunity to do so. Debt of this kind costs money, and might under unfavorable circumstances be a real danger to the shareholder. It was only the other day. that a ftno coal mining proposition passed from the ownership" of a body of shareholders into the smaller ownership-* of the debenture holders. It Is by such happenings that the lender often reaps the rewards that should come to the shareholders m public companies. It is by >uch legal means that many concerns h,*ve. been exploited to the hurt of the pldrtSera m manufacturing development. "Gamblßt" therefore hotfes tlmt tlie pli^reholders In the Golden J3ay .Gem>nt Works, Ltd., are fully prjrtscteid from any danger of the kind. At^anyrate, ONE THING IS QUITE CLEAR to the simplest mln<£: the sooner the debentures are paid off, and the mortgage extinguished, the better it win be for the company. It will Bava Interest payments, and It will become fully possessed of Us own ocqnomicsoul. On the other hand, this writer ,1s glad to observe that "sundry creditors and deposits" are loss this year by £4592 at £6733. This showa that u/ load bus been shifted off the concern, which is very gratifying 1 Indeed. Thero is- another point that looks good; The company has a credit balance -with Its bankers of £ 1&19 this yea,! 1 , Instead of a debit bnlnnce of £l'<ss. Here, agntn, is a movement that proves how hculthy the body Is for tho coming spring. Such figures go far to insjplro confidence, for they ure not stock movements. They are good hard cash facts. On the assets side, "mineral lenses and freehold land" still stand fit tho former ngures, vl/.., £C2DI. Nothing appears to havo been written off these Items. The question urlso«. does the property got so valuable each year -that no writing oft Is necessary? It i» a pity that the chairman has not thrown any light upon the mat tor. The item IS AN IMPORTANT ONK. The next item, "works construction account" with nmny otlK-r undefined i Odds and ends thrown m, totnl* £77,---621!, a reduction of £610 since last year. Included m the comparison It Iw well to mention, that lust year the additions totalled £3187. ns HKillltßt £IG2S this yp-ir Also, the writings on* for doprodrttloiirt were £2000 and £2300 resportively. Between additions to tho plant and the depreciations on same it would appear that £6000 per annum Is considered sumeicnt. To this writer, who has had Home experience In the business, lh',> amounts look on the pmnll Hide of thlnjffl. Of course, the plunt Ih new. l>»i It l« plain that feature will pa«H m time. No doubt it will soon become necessary to largely Increase these provisions, and It would be well to b«>ar thi» In mind when considering

about tin' limit. All thut it requiren to mnkrt It complete are a fow leKtlmoniul* from Boldl<-r« who have been Mtruck by tlu* tthellß; but tho abpencof thi'f*" Ih •■xplalncd by the remark thai the wouiulw tnlllcied by tho mh«ll« tire invariuhly fatnl, Such nre the human ghoulu who follow In the wake of war In this twentieth century of Christianity.

the future prospects of the comply, A cement plant is one that has a very strenuous time before it, by reason of the work it has to do. it requires much financial "dope" to keep it fit, or m other words, LARGE DEPRECIATION RESERVES are absolutely needed to keep the asset ftr and well. It is not much use following the other assets m detail. They have practically remained the same, except for the fact that there is a nice sum at credit m the bank already referred to. From the appearance of the stock and debtors accounts, it looks as if the, company did its selling all right, and such being the case, the assets aa a whole look fresh and sound. Coming to the profit and loss account, ;the manufacturing account gives an increase of £1300 more at £12,832, while the general expenses are only £30 more. ; In . a word, the profits are net .to that extent The manner of Betting out these facts is not to be commended, vand it appears that the "■ company has fallen from the better system it followed m 1913 m drawing up its profit and loss account. In that year It supplied a detailed account of its debit expenditure, which la the proper method to follow, that is, if the shareholders are tt) learn anything about their own business. The company should m future adopt the methods of their 1913 balance-sheet, which m so far as the profit- and loss account is concerned, is a much better document. Things looked very dark for the company three years ago, yet this writer could see a ray of light then m jta prospects. He is sorry to note a tone of dread m the chairman's remarks regarding competition m the future. He mentioned the new works m Australia njad New Zealand, also the dear ltttlo Japanese as a possible danger to the progress of thiß company. "Cambist" thinks these matters can be settled for the good of all by a »tt}e- tariff revision, and an instruction to all the p.u'bHo works departments to specify only cement ' made m this Dominion. Then, again, let there be an . understanding between the cement manufacturers •In this country not to "cut each other's throats'' iir hunting for trade. There Is room for all, so let them be a "happy .family.".'. We do not want, any more German; cement 'JAls for the Japanese article let us prohibit It altogether. True patriotism begins at home.