DOMINION BREWERIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 179, 1 August 1933, Page 8

DOMINION BREWERIES

DIFFICULTIES OF TRADING. C A PITA L R EDUCTI ON FLA N. CON SI DERATION ADJ OF RN ED There was an attendance of about 50 shareholders at the annual meeting of Dominion Breweries, Limited, which was held at Auckland last week, Mr. H. R. Reimers, chairman of directors, presiding. A resolution providing for a reduction of capital from £250,000 in shares of £1 each to £lOO,OOO divided into .160,000 shares of 12s 6d each was submitted to a special meeting, which was adjourned for a month. Referring to the loss of £14,002 for the year, Mr. Reimers said a considerable amount consisted of debit balances brought forward, and the directors thought it advisable to extinguish these accounts altogether. There was a debit balance in the appropriation account of £8566. “’The turnover for the year shows a substantial increase over the preceding year and April, May, June and July of this year show an increase of about 20. per cent, over the same months of last year,” said Mr. Reimers. “However, the cost of obtaining any increase in turnover is heavy while the margin of profit, owing to excessive taxation, is not sufficiently large to counteract this increased cost. It is evident that with a return to anything like normal trading conditions tho company will reap the full benefit from the increase in turnover.” Mr. H. J. Kelliher, managing director, said the hotel trade and brewing industry had to contend during the year with abnormal conditions, over which the directors had no control. The present unsatisfactory results were due to loss of the community’s purchasing power, the tremendous direct and indirect taxation suffered by the trade and the difficulties involved in establishing a large business. Had the company, during its three years of existence, experienced anything like normal trading conditions, there was every reason to assume that results would have been highly satisfactory. ‘‘lf there is the slightest improvement in general conditions and the relief the trade is justly entitled to, the future results will be entirely different,” said Mr. Kelliher. “It is our misfortune that we had to meet great difficulties during the early stages of our existence. ” Messrs. G. Jackson and J. P. Molloy were elected to the directorate. The retiring directors were Messrs. Molloy and Reimers. • A special resolution submitted to shareholders was as follows: “That the capital be reduced from £250,00(1 divided into 250,000 shares of £1 each to £lOO,OOO divided into 160,000 shares of 12s 6d each by cancelling 90,000 of the existing shares of £l. each which have not. been taken or agreed to be taken by any person; by cancelling paid-up capital which has been lost or is unrepresented by available assets to the extent of 7s 6d per share upon each of 78,207 shares which have been issued and are now outstanding; by reducing the nominal amount of all the shares in the company’s capital from £1 per share to 12s 6d per share.”

After some discussion the meeting was adjourned for a month, pending a report, to shareholders on the capital reduction proposals.