Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

METROPOLITAN GAS CO.
HALF-YEARLY MEETING.
REDUCTION IN DIVIDEND RATE.
MELBOURNE, July 28.
The half-yearly meeting of shareholders
of the Metropolitan Gas Co. was
held on Saturday morning. The chairman
of directors (Sir John Grlce)
presided.
The cost of coal, including materials,
used In the production of carburetted
water gas, was £373,529, compared with
£358,429 for the June half of 1928, an
increase of £16,100. The sales of gas
were. 2,041,451,000 cubic feet, with a
revenue of £721,533, compared with 2,036,
543,000 cubic feet and £817,038 for the
six months ended June 30, 1928. The
receipts from residuasl totalled £120,928,
a reduction of £8,862 in comparison
with the June hair of 1928. The sales
of coke and breeze amounted to 83,640
tons, a decline of 6,365 tons against the
1928 period. The general trade depression
has been accentuated by the timber
strike and the New South Wales coal
stoppage. The profits for the half-year
were £ 89,356, and after making a transfer
of £5,000 to the meter renewal fund,
the directors decided to recommend to
shareholders that a dividend at the rate
of 6s 6d a share be declared for the half
year. The amount that has been transferred
to the meter renewal fund is very
small, bearing In mind the fact that only
£1,000 has been appropriated to it during
the last two years.
PRICE OF GAS MAY BE INCREASED.
"The unfortunate stoppage of coal
supplies from Maitland, which rendered
it necessary to import coal at high
prices from England and New Zealand,
affects our profits, and compels a reduction
in the dividend rate," said Mr.
Knight. "It will be observed that again
it has been impossible to make any
transfer to the reserve fund. The
amount permitted by the Act of Incorporation
to be transferred to this fund is
£51,288 for the half-year, and as it takes
the place of a depreciation account In
tho balance-sheet of an ordinary indus-
trial company, the importance of rea-
sonable transfers being made thereto
cannot be too strongly stressed. Over
the last years a total of £197,163 has
been transferred to the reserve fund,
against £442,530 permitted under the
Act. It must bo apparent that this
state of affairs cannot be allowed to
continue, and, although your directors
liave so far retrained from increasing
tho price of gas, it will be necessary to
act In this direction at an early date.
The total cost of the coal ordered from
England and New Zealand to date is
in the vicinity of £360,000. Those ne-
cessary commitments Involve a very
substantial first loss, which, however,
does not end there, for tho lower yield
of gas, a ton of coal carbonised entailing
the use of a greater tonnage, has also to
be taken into consideration.
IMPORTATIONS OF COAL. ,
"Shareholders will have noted from
reports in the daily press that tlio com-
pany, owing to the cessation on March 1
last of operations at the northern collieries
in New South Wales," decided to
import a large tonnage of coal from
England and New Zealand. It was
recognised that even the best of other
local coals were not as suitable as those
from Maitland for gas-making purposes.
Various small quantities of other New
South Wales coals wero secured, but
were found, on trial, to be unsatisfactory
in quality for our carbonising plant. As
there appeared to be no prospects of
settlement of the trouble at the end of
March, the first cargo of South Yorkshire
screened gas coal was ordered, and
we have since placed orders for 19 further
shipments, a total quantity of
about 124,173 tons. The first vessel arrived
on June 10, and at this date five
cargoes have been received, leaving 13
yet to come."
Mr. Haynes Dickson, in seconding the
motion for the adoption of the report,
6ald that the sad thing was that It
should be necessary to get coal from
over overseas with money that should
be spent in Australia. The suicidal
tendencies in the coal trade were most
disastrous, and business men should
protest against the way in which the working
men were demanding wages that
could not be paid by industries. It
meant absolute stagnation.
The report was adopted.
$