17 DECEMBER 1937, Page 42

SOME RECENT COMPANY MEETINGS.

At the annual meeting, held last Tuesday, of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society, the Chairman, Mr. Fred Hoare, stated that the Society at the conclusion of its ninetieth year had total assets of more than £70,000,000. How great has been the progress over the last thirty years may be gathered from Mr. Hoare's further statement that when the present General Manager, Mr. Chandler, joined the Society thirty- one years ago the total assets were just over £r,000,000, a figure which is now exceeded by the Reserve Funds alone.

Mr. John Agnew, the Chairman of the Wiluna Gold Cor-

poration, may be commended for his frank statement con- cerning the position at the recent annual meeting. There has been a deterioration in the development position of the property and Mr. Agnew explained, at some length, the technical difficulties which had presented themselves. The main factor in the position has been the progressive impoverish- ment of the east lode, and also to some extent of the No. 2 west lode. These points were in no way minimised by Mr. Agnew and shareholders can only hope that the further development work which is now being pushed forward may yield results justifying the policy which has been pursued.

Considerable progress has been made over recent years by the Anglo-Ecuadorian Oilfields, which is an offshoot of Lobitos Oilfields. That profits have steadily risen may be gathered from the fact that the dividends have moved up from 3 per cent. less than ten years ago to 15 per cent., and at Tuesday's meeting of the shareholders, the Chairman, Mr. H. C. R. Williamson, was able to report very favourably on the past year's operations.