CANTERBURY FROZEN MEAT COMPANY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5519, 20 March 1896, Page 4

CANTERBURY FROZEN MEAT COMPANY.

; The fourteenth annual meeting of shareholders in the Canterbury Frozen Meat and . Dairy Produce Export Company will be held on March 27. The report of the directors is as follows :— In presenting to shareholders the fourteenth annual balance-sheet and profit and. loss statement, the directors are again pleased to be able to congratulate them •upon the profitable result of the year's • operations. The accounts show that, after "Writing d64Ooooff the works for wear and tear and depreciation, and transferring .£2OOO to . reserve fund, there remains at the credit of profit and loss account the sum of .£2805 16s 4d. Of this sum .£I2OO was distributed .'''■ in September last as an interim dividend at the rate of 4 per cent for the half-year ; and the directors recommend a further dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, making 9 per cent for the year, which will absorb and leave a balance of .£lO5 16s 4d Ito carry forward to new account. There Is again a marked increase in the quantity of stock dealt with at the companys works, as shown by the following figures : — Year ending Feb. 28, 1895, 277,639 sheep, 167,231 lambs, 95 cattle, 5502 pigs ; total 450,467. Year ending Feb. 29, 1896, 323,491 sheep, 227,301 lambs, 192 cattle, 8293 pigs ; total 559,277. During the year the directors have made two reductions in the freezing charges, first, by making the old winter, rates to begin at the middle of April .instead of June 1, which concession led to a large increase of business, and, secondly, by reducing the charges all Tound when the Consolidated rates were formulated after the new freight contracts were entered into in August last. The principal additions to the works during the year have been the duplication, of the manure drying plant, and the erection of a large Hercules refrigerator. This latter will not only enable the company to cope witH a largo increase in business, but will also allow of considerable economy in. the consumption of fuel. Experience has shown that the present date for making up the annual accounts, viz., to the last day of February, is a very inconvenient one, coming as it does in the middle ■ .of the busiest season. The directors, therefore, propose to bring forward a motion at the annual meeting changing the closing date to Nov. 30, which date (with 1 May 31 for the half-yearly period) coin- ■ cides with the company's business seasons, and will enable stock and accounts to be made up diiring the periods when the works are either closed for overhaul or only working at a slow rate. Should this motion be carried, the next balance-sheet will be made up for nine months to Nov. 30 next, and then yearly from that date. Another proposal which the directors intend to bring before shareholders at the meeting will be one authorising them to issue the remaining one thousand shares of the authorised capital. These shares, no doubt, can be issued on advantageous terms. The enlargement of the list of shareholders would lead to an increase in the number of persons practically interested in the company, while the increase in capital ' would so strengthen the resources of the company as to enable ( the directors to borrow the . sums required for conducting the company's business on far more advantageous terms than could otherwise be done. It may interest shareholders to be reminded that the company has now been in active operation for thirteen years, and that for that period the total dividends paid . (including, of course, the present one) amount to 102 per cent, while an aggregate of .£32,753 14s 7d has been written off the works account and £5877 14s 6d accumulated as reserves. Messrs John Deans and J. T. Ford retire . from the directorate by rotation, and, being eligible, offer themselves for reelection. Messrs A. M. Ollivier and W. ■ H. E. Wanklyn offer themselves for reelection as auditors.