GUTHRIE AND LARNACH'S COMPANY IN LIQUIDATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2841, 31 October 1883, Page 3

GUTHRIE AND LARNACH'S COMPANY IN LIQUIDATION.

(By Telegraph.) DuNEDia.Oct. 30. In their report to the shareh^ders tht / Jjquidalors of authrie and Larnacli 9 Timbei / anc ( jy O odware Cotnpiny »ay :— "?be pro> cess of liquidation and the results *hetbei to the Bhareholtfa-s of the Company o. to iti croditon were beiiefioUHy affeoted by a c

arrangement made with tho Bank of Ne\ Zealand whicb,beiog itself the largest creditor agreed to supply funds for tho payment ii full of all other crfditors as Ihoir claim matured and also to carry on the account u ai to enable us to continuo the Company' 'iperal iona and «o preserve as far as practiesbli the Company's interests as nn oporative eslab lishment. The shareholders must feel gruti fied that the disastrous results of closing tin Company's doors, disbanding ita large staff oi operative*, and forciog a »ale of its atsels ir a disintegrated form were thus nverts-d.' They then go on to explain tho etepi taken to realiso tho as«rt», and on thii point say : — "lbe bush mills, as soon as th< contracts wrre completed, were offered foi s.lo by public tecder, careful valuations o] the properties having been fint made. Th< tenders received gave the strongest possibh indication of tbo ex'ent of tho deprrciatior (he Company would have to face iu realising its a>sets, and of the fact that for this cliai of property there wero almost no buyers The Kew siwtnills were the first offerod, and wore thus disposed of for £4000 to Meitra Henry and Munro. Afterwards, tho Owakc mil's for £4500, those at Catlin'a River for £2500 (subject to a fiis>. mnrtgago of £1500), and the Munukuu mill property for £10,000. Immediately afterwords tho Company's fleet of ccasting vessels were offered separately or in ono lot. The most advantageous offer wai in the Utter nhaoe, and the whole fleet was placed at £5000. A freehold in Crawford street follow ei for £2250, while sundry leaseholds offered nt tlie same time, which could without di<advanl age be detached from the Factory holdings, did not induce su offer of any sort. In alt cases tho Bank of Now Zeahnd hold mortgages over the properties, ind was invited to tender alon<» with tho public n order to protect ita interests as mortgagee jtherwise no reserves were fiiorl. Wo took ivery possible step to make it known tbat the noperties wou!d be sold absolutely to the lighest tenderer in each case exeopt fi>r the few sawmills. The moit'igees tender was n onch case the highest, and was therefore ecepted." With regard to tho main oentral roperty in Dunedin, consisting of factory, 'arohonsos, etc., the liquidators slate how hey arrived at the eonclufion that the Bank ad b.en, and was likely to prove tho only, or t any rate tlie highest tenderer in every ise, and thnt by the ordinary prccess of lie in the open market by auction, tender, or rivate bargiin, the assets would not re'urn a rice which would cover the liabilities or iturn a dividend to the shareholder. Th» stails of the agreement as finally concluded ■e as follow* : — " (1) The remaining assets > be sold to the Bank in one lit. (2) The ank to discharge the account of overdraft id forego all uncharged interest, meet all irrent acceptances, abandon recourse in upect of all endorsationa, undertake the relonsibility of all known liabilities and of all lticipated contingencies, pay all expenses rovide for tho liquidators' commission, and ipply for distribution to the shareholders is Bum of 6s per share on the 41,837 rxUtiog lares. (3) The dividend of ss, it was also ;reed, should, in cisss whore »ny shareolder was indebted to the Company under ade transactions, be credited to his account. I) Tbat until we could bring the liquidation i a flail conclusion ani pay over the dividend i the shareholders, tho surplus of the puriase money should carry interest at the rat« ! 7 per cent, for tho benefit of tho shareilders." The liquidators slate tho final i«tribution of the dividend must await Ivices. from England, and conclude ai illows : — "The 'abashed occount is subit'ed to tho shareholders to acquaint them ; detail with the assots and their values an e viewed thorn ia March last after the B»b ' tho roil!*, <tc, from which it will bo seen lat the ascertained deficiency on book values , that point amo'inted to £134,380 lls lid, i which the probible depreciation on the asold assets had to ba added, amountig to £37.098 5s lOd, making a total : £172.378 17s 9d. We may renrk that thi» totnl viewed in t'ie of after events would bear a eonsiderabls Idition, and tbat the values set off opposite if various assets, although in some lines fnir ilues to hold in conjunction with others, ould probably have fallen considerably lort of the estimate on sale. It may also bo Dinted out that tho figures given do not inude any loss on the sale of tho stocks nor le bad debts arising out of bills under disjunt in August latt, which might together mount to a large sum. In conclusion, we link it fair to the Company to state that the uoks of tb9 office had been remarkably well apt and were in perfect order." The account )ferred to is in tubular form, and conjquently unsuitable for telegraphing, but tho rincipal figures are as follows : — Realised j>ets— Kew mills property (ledger value 618,959) realised £4000; Ow»ke mills ledger value £11,661) realised £4500 ; C itlin's lills (ledger value £12,920) realisod £2500 ; ranukia property (ledger value £31812) jalised £10,000; coasting vessels (ledger nine £11,172) realised £5000. Tho >si on the sale of tho branch usiness in George stroet, Dunedin, prior j liquidation, n set down at £10,007 ; a deciency on tho Company's leaseholds is shown f £15.526, and the item of £20,C00 for good rill is stated to have do value as a (aleable sset. The other principal figures under the ead of " realised assets " are deficiences in rorkinj; account* of mill properties, which otal over £20,000. As regards unrealised eaets, the fao'ory and warehouses were alued on tbo ledger at £61,426, *nd tho irobable depreciation is eet down at 516,426. Tho book debts were £50,688, nd are stated to have been ovor-estimated by 512 688. The securities at the Auckland .ranch were valuod at £3693, and are estiouted ot £2500. The other items are in mailer sums, but some of them show muoh lepreciation, as for instance the Manor Place >lant, valued nt £689, and the probable dejreciation ia set down at £639. The stocks »ero set down as having a ledger value ol £90,406, and goods in transitu of ±,21,37^ ind no depreciation on the sale of these wai jstiraated. The shareholders adjourned for i ireek to consider the report.