300 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



The company's financial position is 

 an excellent one, for not only are the 

 reserves extensive, but the assets of 

 iS^ 1 45,000, about i, 1 0,000 greater on the 

 year, are of good quality. There is, of 

 course, the Treasur\' deposit of £^20,000 

 and the premises assets of ;£^i 5,000, 

 neither of which has been changed 

 The mortgages, however, rose by 

 LT/OO to i^82,ioo, the cash by ;i^i300 to 

 ;^26,400, while the sundry debtors, 

 ;^I400, are ;£^26o more. The company 

 owes practically nothing, for its sundry 

 creditors do not amount to ;£^30, so that 

 the shareholders virtually own the 

 whole of the assets and their proportion 

 per share in the surplus assets, securing 

 the paid-up capital of ;^50,000 (100,000 

 ;^io shares paid up to lOs.), and re- 



serves ;^90,000, is over 28s. per share. 

 Large though this may be, sellers of 

 the shares are content to ask a much 

 lower price, 19s. gd., a discount of about 

 8s. The heav)- uncalled liability of £(^ 

 I OS. per share is no doubt responsible, 

 but the most important factor is prob- 

 abl\- the yield of 5 per cent., which 

 apparent 1\- is the lowest investors care 

 to accept at present. The risk of the 

 uncalled capital being asked for is not 

 a serious one, for the business is well 

 managed by experienced and capable 

 officers who do not take any risks. 

 Moreover, the company could onh' make 

 a serious loss through maladministra- 

 tion of its trust funds, a contingency 

 possible, but not ver)' probable. 



WUNDERLICH'S LIMITED. 



The past year has been easily the best 

 this company has enjoyed, for its net 

 profits for the February. 191 3, period 

 exceeded ;£^34,ooo, an increase of about 

 ^,'3600 over those of 191 2, the best year 

 previously. The actual earnings no 

 doubt were much larger than these, for 

 the company does not show all that it 

 earns. Moreover, the profits it discloses 

 are only shown after deducting the 

 special bonuses payable to the directors 

 under the Articles of Association. The 

 result of the year's trading has not in- 

 fluenced directors to increase the divi- 

 dend rates, for the preference share- 

 holders got their usual 7 per cent., and 

 the ordinary shareholders 10 per cent., 

 after which there remained over ^19,000 

 to be added to reserves, raising them to 

 i^6i,6oo. 



There was a growth of nearly i^24,coo 

 in the assets during the period to over 

 ;^287,ooo. Virtually, the greater por- 

 tion of these extra funds was contribu- 

 ted by the profits, for the company's 

 liabilities did not rise by more than 

 ;^5000 to ^^56,000. The manner of dis- 

 tribution of these new funds indicates 

 in a measure the growth of the com- 

 pany's business during the period. More 

 property was required, and accordingly 

 £^000 more was added to freehold land 

 and buildings, raising it to ^^60,500. 



Additional plant and machinery was 

 needed, and a further ^^^5400 was spent 

 on this account, making the assets 

 £'39,400. This figure, it may be noted, 

 is shown after deducting depreciation 

 reserves, the amount of which is not 

 stated. More money went into stocks 

 and work in progress, X67.700, a rise of 

 nearly ;£"i 2,000 in the )'ear, while the 

 book debts (less provision for bad and 

 doubtful debts) grew by £dfOQO to 

 almost ;^40,ooo. It does not necessarily 

 follow that the business really made 

 solid progress because of heavier stocks 

 and book debts, but these matters are 

 under the control of directors, and as 

 their attitude general!)' has been a con- 

 servative one, there is little fear that the 

 business has been overstocked, or that 

 book debts are not as good as they 



should be. 



^ » ♦ 



The minor assets have on the whole 

 been reduced by about ;^5000. There 

 was a drop of £goo on the leaseholds 

 to iJ"96oo, and another of ;^I900 in the 

 catalogues, stationery, etc., to ;£"3400, 

 while the cash in hand has fallen away 

 by £2^00 to i^ 1 3,000. 



« * » 



The liabilities are, as usual, grouped 

 in one total, sundry creditors, accept- 



