Wellington Onera House Company Limited

NZ Truth, Issue 569, 13 May 1916, Page 4

Wellington Onera House Company Limited

The LJ^iial §tormy Meeting.

A couple of years ago ''Cambist" drew attention to the affairs of {he above company, and since, then the general meetings of the shareholders have been marked by much discord. From the appearance of these facts one thing Is quite certain, viz., that the relations between the noisy shareholders and the auditors of the company with the Board of Directors aro not at a,U happy. No matter how angry too not»y ahareholdere and the auditors may be, the ge'nlal chairman has kept his temper In the most admirable manner. The affairs of tho. company are still managed In thai usual manner. As this writer has pointed out the wornout Wellington dodge of trying to mana,go joint stqqk companies without a responsible head to tho business

IS A FAILAJJtE. Th,e Unarda ftf moat companies are "hqssed" hy men >vj»o have too many Irons m ihe flro, an.*} the result/* tiro always Qf a disapnoinUpfl charnotar. "Cambist" In this caso does not think t|i»t M?«!ir8. Magellan. Fergugop, Sjor phena or Buoholjs have furthered the general Interests pf this, poncerp one lota, In spite of ull the (}uat Ujoy kjokod tip at the U\ft meeting, It is doubtful !( they could bftvo tjonq any batter th«n tho proaout Board. Before jipy in)i provexnent tnKe* place a Qhju^e In management and methods will have to bo carried through, and th)a writer her llevea that no matter what may be said about the war, and oilier temporary circuruatftncea. much money sqmW ije made through the proper management of tho Opern House, juat In the same manner as the Fullers und J. C. Wllilamson companies are "BOCKIN9 UP" THE . DOLLARS. In the latter oaao expert managemont accounts for the vast fortunoa theuo peoplo are pUin«r up, and if the Wellington. Opera House Co. will pay for export management 119 doubt they can, Ijct H, Messrs. Pultarp ap4 >VUHttinson Uo not jwy thin company jjBOOa for rent to lose money over, even (hough that amount la £342 more than tho accounts of Itjat your. The capital at present authorised Is £50.000 In £5 Bharo«t 40(|0 «ro ora«n---orle», and GOOO aro i>reference shares. There is at date of balance-sheet J51665 12» Cd more to be paid m to inukp up the full XAO.OQO. On top uf (his capital there ta tho huge nuin of mortgitßeM amountliiK to £33,200. Apparently tho l«U«r coku the com|iai>y ft per cent, per annum for Interest, and then aonuHltliiK had to be paid for a bank overdraft, Th,e jot cost thorn £ 1725, which Jh the biggest Hem of expenditure oh (ho debit side of pro/It ami lo«s account, Looklna at the asHeljj of the compnny the two opera houses stand ut £83,731, from which nwtblnHr hfta been written for depreciation. Taking tho net profit for the year this works out at -Ul par cent, on these value*. The return seems llko a Joke, and for that reason tolln In plain language that things are not by any means rosy. The dividend paid to tho shareholders" ly at the rate ot a per cent, and it could only be paid by lotU»ur depreciation an tho 'Opera Houses ultde. There 1» practically no murgln to provide for all that ' tihoui'd be aocompll«hed out of the small revenues at the company* command. It l« llitlo things of this kind that tthow the difffrpoco between thoorlofl and practice. The .auditors- contention*, aud the HARD ACTUAL BUSINESS mesujyra It U not by mexinji of circulars or artormy meetlugii that all this c«n bo tnondud. Until tho result* Improve "Cumblst" counsolu the Uoard to use all profit* to pay off the heavy debts. Small rovcmiia and jargo d«Uta arc tho hO'itllo trenches which stand opposite ! to ihc greedy and noisy shareholders.