298 



FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS QUARTER. 



CONDUCTED BY ALEX. JOBSOX, A.I.A. 



HUDDART PARKER LIMITED. 



So far as the first year of this steam- 

 ship company is concerned, the antici- 

 pations of the prospectus of December, 

 191 1, about profits, have been justified. 

 The auditors in that document certified 

 that the average yearly profits for the 

 June (191 quinquennium were ;£"7i,7i3, 

 which amount the December, 191 2, 

 period has exceeded by earning 

 ^74,673, before writing off ;6^4969 flota- 

 tion expenses and ^^315 for auditors' 

 fees. The actual earnings were, however, 

 much more than this. x-\n insurance 

 fund of ;^ 1 6,709 was created during the 

 year, and the initial reserve fund was 

 increased b)' ;^I404 to over ;{^3350. 

 These accretions, about ;^ 18,600, pre- 

 sumably came out of the profits, so that 

 the total net earnings apparentl}' ex- 

 ceeded i^93,ooo. 



* # * 



This is certainl}' satisfactory, especi- 

 ally as the year's expenditure was 

 largely increased by awards by arbitra- 

 tion courts and wages boards. The 

 directors met some of this growth b}- 

 raising fares and freights, and in addi- 

 tion were able to augment the gross 

 earnings somewhat by using their own 

 boats where formerly chartering had 

 been necessar)'. Had the Board been 

 able to use all the new funds of 

 iJ'250,000 brought in by the flotation, no 

 doubt the results would have been still 

 better, but as it is thev were good. 



After setting aside ;^iS,6oo to reserve 

 and writing off the formation expenses, 

 the profit permitted ;^6 1,250 being paid 

 away in dividends (6 per cent, prefer- 

 ence, and 7 per cent, ordinary), and the 

 carrying forward of about ;^8oco. This 

 is not much, but then the company has 

 in addition to its insurance and reserve 

 funds a special reserve of £^30,000 for 

 contingencies, depreciation, repairs, etc. 

 This reserve, which from its title 

 scarcely appears to be a genuine one, 



but rather provision for depreciation, 

 etc., not written off, is ;^28,ooo below its 

 total at formation, a decline unex- 

 plained in the report. Depreciation actu- 

 ally written off no doubt accounts for 

 some of the decrease, but the payment 

 of the July, 191 1, dividend included in 

 the formation total also was in part 



responsible. 



* * ♦ 



The object of the flotation was osten- 

 sibly to build more ships to cater for 

 the growth in Australian and Xew Zea- 

 land trade, but apparent!)' this policy 

 of expansion has not yet been begun. 

 The report does not mention the mat- 

 ter, but the chairman, at the meeting, 

 said that tenders for a boat for the Mel- 

 bourne-Launceston trade had been 

 called, but the prices were so high that 

 the idea had to be abandoned for the 

 present. This explains, in a measure, 

 the absence of any marked growth in 

 the steamer plant, etc., freehold proper- 

 ties, and shares in other companies' as- 

 sets grouped in one total, ;^657,ooo. 

 The prospectus showed these assets and 

 coal stocks and stores, now ;^32,ooo, in 

 one total of about i^68o,oco, so that the 

 increase for the year was only ;^io,ooo. 

 The new capital for the most part went 

 to swell the Government securities, fixed 

 deposits, and other investments, which 

 rose by nearly ;^ 1 60,000 to ;^43 2,000. 

 The remaining funds, with about 

 i, 1 6,000 accruing from a joint reduc- 

 tion of that sum in sundr\' debtors to 

 ;if86,coo, and cash to i^ 11,000, brought 

 the liabilities down to under ;£^i 25,000, 

 consisting of shareholders' deposits, 

 ;658,OGO, and sundr)- creditors. ;;^65,700. 

 » * * 



There is a market for the company's 

 shares, both in Melbourne and in Syd- 

 ney, which is a distinct advantage to in- 

 vestors. Sellers of the 6 per cent, cumu- 

 lative preference shares (500.000 full)- 



