A PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION

NZ Truth, 5 October 1918, Page 5

A PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION

THE NEW ZEALAND FARMERS' CO-OPERATIVE

Isterestiig Review If the Year's Opiratas

Satisfactory Report for the Shareholders

The annual general meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association was held m Christchurch last Saturday. This progressive association has .for years been' one of the! most prosperous concerns m Canterbury, and, despite the war, it has continued to progress, so that the .report", presented td- its members this year is. again a comforting document, carrying as it does a reassuring financial statement and a substantial dividend. The excellence of its ;■■■■ inanagemertt is de&erying -of every commendation';. . * v> The annual, report bf^-this enterprising association was brief, but comprehensive. It ran as follows : . . "The directors have pleasure in"-syb-'mitting/ to. shareholders th^^7th r anniial y ' report and statement, of accounts, showing the position- of " the sassticiation's: affairs.: During "the. -year —<121 allotments of ordinary shares were made, representing 3557 shares upon a basis of £2 paid up and at a premium of 10s each; also 138 allotments of 'ordinary shares, representing '4070 shares upon a basis of £5 paid up at a premium of 5s per share. 3572 "A" preference shares were also allotted at par to 109 applicants at £5 each paid up. "The profit and loss account shows available earnings .'for the iZ^vaohihs ' amounting to £55,886 19s 7d; which; with £13,226 7sU7d,' ; brought forward from < last year, makes a total to be dealt 'with 1 of £69.113 7s 2d.; The direc-. tors propose to allocate this surplus as follows: To pay six per cent, dividend on preference share capital (£19,250); to pay a dividend, and, bonus equal to. eight and one-half per cent, upon the ordinary paid-up share capital (£17,---700) (free of income tax m both .cases) ; , to place to the ■ Reserve Fund the ; /3um of £,7812 7s. v 6d, whicK, with £2187 12s 6d, representing "premiums oi* ordinary shares allotted" during the_year, will then stand at. £160.000; to" write TEN PER GENT. DEPRECIATION off the machinery arid plant (£2970), and a: further sum. of . £1000 to provide for depreciation of motor vehicles used m the assodiation.'s service; -to contribute £ 1000 to- the Employees' Superannuation Fund;. £3000 to the special fund to provide for contingencies with respect to members of the staff at the war; to pay a war bonus to the staff, on the basis stated below £3500); and to carry the 1 balance- '(£12,880) forward. The discount of four per cent, on shareholders' purchases of merchandise during the. year (sundry net items excepted) and .the rebate. of 25 per cent, on sundry commissions -earned (net business and; wool excepted). will, ' for the convenience of those concerned, be included on the dividend .'slips dealt with, as. customary. The following is the -basis 'of the proposed special war bpnus to the staff: To those -whose earnings were £1.56 and under,- a bonus of _5 per cent.; those over £156 and up to ; 3QO, a- bonus -of:; three TJeirr cent,;, and two and a-half per cent:> to those m "excess of £300;-:- This, bonusrto-at-tach to' members of the staff £frho have enlisted during the .period... iLleo;-. only, to those others who..were m the employ on July 31, -1918r All bonus payments, however, are entirely at the discretion ". bfiJthe executive." ' Thie .chairman. Mr. J. A. Pannett, delivered an address, m which he cover-ed-at length the, operations of the Association exhaustively, and* dealt with niany matters of general'- riibmenf to the community. He congratulated the shareholders on their substantial position, despite the disabilities of the war. The total -business done during the year, as. disclosed by the balance-sheet, shbwed ." " AN INCREASE OF £67,592. A good proportion of this had been made up by the higher values ruling during the war, but it was satisfactory to find that every section of the business had contributed its due share. The supplies of general merchandise to shareholders and others had increased by ■ £ 47,692. With : regard' to the capital account, he stated that the year's operations' had resulted m the total subscribed capital to July 31 last amounting to £816,675, of which £279,---765 was uncalled, and there were 71,---897 ordinary and 14.768 preference shares still unallotted. The new allotments during the year had added £45,---324 to the working funds and £10,671 to the uncalled capital i reserve. He urged, the smaller shareholders of the Association to increase, their holdings to at least five shares, both m their, own interests and the interests of the Association, and pointed out that the Association stood to protect the farmers' interests as well as tfiose of its members generally; It had stood the test of time, and beside paying .consistently good dividends, and making other -concessions it; had for many years past performed a. valuable service to the producers and the people of the province' generally. The reserve fund stood at ;an amount that was . EQUAn.TO 32s 4 6d £EX SHARE / • PREMIUM,-' ;■,-•• i , and shareholders' deposits showed an increase of £57)315, the greater proportion of this liability being fixed with '!" the: Association for, periods ranging from two to five years, with maturing date.s equally spread. The amount at credit of shareholders' current accounts was £388,337; which was ah aggregation of hundreds of accounts, representing the source • whence coriimission arid interest were derived and constituted the : whole . of the Association's liabilities, which .were consequently with their shareholders. The* amount (£82,255) due to sundry creditors was larger than usual, but this was due to the fact that large purchases had- -had to be made locally on account of. importations being less dependable during the war period. However, a" study of the balance-sheet -would show that the assets, including uncalled capital, covred, the liabilities -more than twofold. There had been an increase m the value of. the Association's properties owing.. to the purchase- of a valuable site m Qhf ist'ch'urch" arid the extension of branches at smaller centres. All maintenance expenses were paid out of current earnings and property values had never been written up. .The machinery and plant account showed that the amount credited to assets . w.as. : amply covered by values, even- though there had been a consistent policy of writing down. . The stocks carried w.ere -largely m excess of what was customary m respect of general merchandise, but this was due, to their securing large reserves wherever possible to obviate the difficulty of restricted shipping. The sundry advances -made had all been on a,;demand;b-asis, and the great majority of them were well within the. laities of clients' movable assets. Commefttirfg'"oft: the: "Profit and Loss Account, the chairman said that £24,644 had' been paid" to J the tax commissioner, REPRESENTING- 7s 6d IN THE £ of the company's earnings, "which, I still 1 maintain, is unf air .with, ,a .com?, pany..; constituted as we are. At the same time I recognise ; that we are at war : and- -that " the wherewithal must be provided." The directors,' he continued, propose paying 6 per cent, divi- . dend on the preference share capital; S% pn ordinary shares; to bring the . Reserve ,.F..und up tp .£160,000 by the. appropriation of £7812 from the year's profits; to write down machinery and plant as u^ual; to contribute ,£IOOO to the: Staff Superannuation Fund; and; £3000 to a special fund with regard to members of the, staff at the war,-;-etc. The 25 per cont. rebate on commissions

and the-bonus" of 4 per cent, on shareholders' purchases of goods were provided for prior, to July 31. The system of automatic insurance, .introduce~d~tw,elye . months ago, had "operated' very-' -satisfactorily and the profits "from it .went to swell the gross revenue of the ' concern m which they all participated. In .the stock and auction . departments business had been very good arid the high prices rulinghad favorably affected the commission earnings. The season had been unfavorable for fattening purposes, where «heep.were concerned, but the- demand for cattle had been- exceptionally keen, and the turnover had increased considerably. With regard to frozen meat . the position. Jiacl .been, aggravated by i THE SCARCITY OF SHIPPING consequent upon war requirements.. tyut the freezing companies had helped to meet this difficulty by increasing their storage accommodation. It was, however understood' that they would face the new season with approximately the same amount of ntorage m hand as m December la«t, so that no serious inconvenience or dislocation of business need be anticipated. As a result of the war frozen meat had found its way into hundreds of homes m the Old Country, and this fact emphasised the /.necessity for co-ordination with regard to the -marketing ' of our food supplies. Turning to the subject of wool, the chairman said with reference to the Governmental commandeering that some glaring anomalies existed, though he was quite satisfied that the authorities were doing everything possible to adjust the business upon an equitable basis. In view, of the length, of time that wool had been at a fixed price, despite increased wages, it' seemed ■ 'hardly fair that manufacturers should increase the price of yarns and other manufactured goods .so frequently. Another unsatisfactory point was that manufacturers, although, they, had stocks of wool m hand, wpxild not quote firm prices for delivery a few months ahead. Absolutely -dry storage -was necessary for. wool .and .the additions the company had made to its storage acffommodatidh' m~ r Christchurch placed it well- ahead pf-^any other organisa-tion'"in-the:'Dominion. ~ ■> = ---'■ .... -The growth of this section of the business-: during, the past 10 years had been very reassuring. The following are the -figures:- .'"■• & ; - ■•■■'■ '.-.:.-- --1908-9 -1-909-10 1910-11-1911-12-1912-13 ;7-962 -9904- 9776 ? -9214 9952 1913-14 1914-15 1915-16 1916-17 1917-18 11,707 -12,270' 12,608-13,962 14,866 ' Referring ; to- dairy produce, Mr. Panhett Stated that' the terms Imposed by the Government had been ■•■>.-. VERY; SATISFACTORY TO THE ; ;; PRODUCER,: ■';- ' - The purchasing, of the season's butter was made at Is. 4d 13-16 per lb 'f.o:b., an:;advance payment of about 75 per cent, being made after four weeks m cold store, balance on shipment. . m addition, \the. purchasers "agreed to refund to the factories 50. 'per cent: of any. net profit made on resale, . this article; not being required .as a War ..Office ration. The bonus, is now cal- " culated to return ■ a further "18s * per cwt., or slightly under 2d per lb. The price paid for cheese was lOd per lb,. advance payments being made on -a similar basis to butter, but the price final and not subject to bonus. It is;: worthy of note that whereas the price ..of cheese may net up to 2s per lb for butter-fat, the . price for butter, plus the promised bonus, will yield from 2cl to 3d per lb less. - ' ' FEDERATION OF CO-OP. ■ -ASSOCIATIONS; — ; . Since the formation of the federation last year when nine of- the largest Co-operative Associations joined together, Mr. John Hooton, for many years associated with Messrs. Henry W. Peabody and Co.. was appointed .manager of the scheme, and he was now busily engaged m organising work, mainly at present m connection with general supplies for- the interested Associations. The war, unfortunately, ' checked -any real progress' being made with the federations plans. Meanwhile, however, a lot of "spade" work was being gone r^v with, and when the war was over, he. "was confident that the federation would. ; prove a great help to the individual ' Associations, not only with regard to supplies' of general merchandise, but moro particularly m connection with i the marketing of. staple products, i The speaker proceeded to refer at i length to the shortage of cool stor- ; age, and the incf easing demand' for : space, which, he said,' was being as ! satisfactorily met as conditions would perriiit. Referring to ' oversea Snipping, he expressed the hope that! Sir i Joseph Ward's statement that the pooling of, British shipping was being care- • fully watched, and that the Home au- , thorities were satisfied that it would, not be prejudicial to the interests of New Zeala nd. " ■ ' . ■ ■ ! The Hon. D. Buddo, m seconding the motion, which was unanimously carried/, spoke of the report as one of the best m the history of the Association. The chairman's explanation had cleared, iip, one or two points- that might have been hazy.. The ' Association .was . t° °c congratulated on showing consideration to the purchaser equally y/ith the shareholder. The small increase m profits testified to that. This year's dividend was just about what it should be. It was a very good return from a very safe investment. He wished to draw attention to the way m. .which the Association had met the requirements m buildings when desired; and year by , year the value of freehold ; buildings was alwaj's on the increase. ; In regard to shipping, it might be that i those interested m shipping were rais- . ing rather an undesirable bogey. His impression was that the position was • very much better than it was made ! to'- appear. This year should be no i worse than last m the matter of getting their produce away. The, year should start just about as last. Besides, they had increased storage capacity up to 7,000,000 carcases of mutton m the Dominion. Farmers should push ahead and produce all they could. If the shipping was not available for all, the storage would be. Touching on the balance-sheet, he remarked that the Association was m a very good position. Their finance was stronger than ever before, although it never had been weak. In what it was doing for the employees on active service, the Association was only doing its duty. The high price of manures was causing very grave concern, and future supplies could not be considered without some anxiety. The supply of raw materials was getting very limited, although the Association- was endeavoring to secure a source that would supply needs for a good few. years to come. In that same direction, farmers knew too little of the requirements of their soils. He,. felt -that before long: there would be a Dominion soil survey, but it would be necessary for the farmi ers to supplement that by sectoring .individual . an.alys.es, . . .When.; the soldiers came home, New Zealand had to get a move on. The best way that they could get a move on- was to see that the- best • asset • they had-— the soil of the country— was able to do its share of the business. The Association's message to shareholders was to carry 0n.,., ,-,... , ? . . •'-.'■•.. . ■'•• ■ All the" /retiring directors were reelected,- as follows: Messrs. F H Brittan, H. T. Cooper, William Dunlop! Fred Hubbard, David McMillan and William McMillan. \, Messrs. . Jameson and Newbureh were 're-elected -auditors.