COMPANY MEETING

GUY MOTORS LIMITED

INCREASED DEMAND SUPPLIES FOR OVERSEAS STRONG FINANCIAL POSITION MR. SYDNEY S. GUY'S SPEECH

PRESIDING at the twenty-fourth annual meeting of Guy Motors, Ltd., held on December 7th at the head offices, Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, the Chairman, Mr. Sydney S. Guy, said With your permission, as usual, I will take the balance-sheet as read and deal with the details.

Turning to the assets side, the item land and buildings is much the same as it was last year, as although we spent a lot of money in keeping the buildings up to date we have not extended the works, which already covers fourteen acres.

Plant, Machinery, &c.—This shows an increase of some £11,000 of er last year, but it does not represent the whole of the expendi- ture made, as on one hand the figures are subject to depreciation, but on the other an appreciable amount of new plant of the latest type has been installed, quite apart from the additions to replace old plant which has been sold, and the amount realised for the plant sold exceeds the written down book value, and the credit balance has been used still further to write down these items.

I would add that the plant has been well maintained and, where necessary, has been brought thoroughly up to date.

As in last year so in this, considerable expenditure has been made in connexion with the preparatory work for the production of new types of vehicle, but generally it was not until the close of the financial year that production of all these types commenced, but since that date many hundreds have been and are being produced.

Stock.—The increase of some £40,000 over last year is inevitable with increasing business, but is fully justified by the results subsequently obtained.

Debtors show some £2o,000 increase, while the creditors also show an increase of some £16,000, both of which are the results of increased business.

Cash in hand shows an increase of some £20,000, which, having regard to the increase in the other items referred to, has only been possible by the increase in capital which took place when some six months of the year under review had elapsed ; this you will see is reflected in the increase in the subscribed capital by some £40,000.

You will note we are continuing to redeem the debentures, which have been reduced in the year by £14,000.

The reserve account shows an increase of some £40,000, which is accounted for by the premium obtained from the new issue of shares, less the expense in connexion therewith, and, as you will see from the report, out of this year's profits we propose to transfer to the general reserve a further £17,000, which will then bring up the total reserves to some £143,000, which I think you will agree in relation to the capital of £207,000 is a very satisfactory position.

SATISFACTORY PROFIT The profit of over £5o,000, which, as the report stated, is arrived at after provision for taxation," of course covers E.P.T., and, bearing in mind what I have already told you, the increased profit may be considered satisfactory. You will note from the directors' report that the profit, together with the amount brought forward from last year, leaves an amount of some £71,000 available, and, after paying interest on the Debentures and the Non-cumulative Participating Preference shares, leaves for disposal an amount of some £66,00o. Your directors feel that it is desirable to pursue a conservative policy. For that reason they recommend, for the third year in succession, the payment of a dividend at the rate of 15 per cent. per annum, and after setting aside £3,000 for the provision of staff profit-sharing bonus and £7,000 to the sinking fund for debenture redemption, to carry forward to next year £22,000. Your directors are pleased to be able to report that, although the number of vehicles registered, as published in the returns of the Ministry of Transport durihg the period under review, show a marked decrease, the sale of your company's vehicles during the same period shows a continued and marked increase, which justifies the slogan your company has consistently advertised of late, "Guys for Life and Lower Running Costs," and our order book shows an ever-in ing number of large and discriminating buyers who are purchasing Guy vehicles.

At our meeting last year I told you of the considerable develop- ment expenditure we had incurred and were incurring in produc- ing new designs, jigs and tools, and, as you will have gathered from my preceding remarks, this has continued during the past year.

It is regrettable that this war should have been forced on us in September, but, having become involved, it is fortunate that your company carried out the development work to which I have referred, and was in consequence immediately able to be of very

considerable assistance to the Government, which has been duly acknowledged, and that since August a very considerable number of vehicles has been and is being produced in the common cause.

Whilst, as you will have gathered from the report, the company is well supplied with orders and is in fact working day and night, we have always maintained a large stock of parts, which is now standing us in good stead and enables us to supply the needs as far as possible of our large number of customers.

You will no doubt have seen in this morning's paper a state- ment by the President of the Society of Motor Manufacturers that, by arrangement with the Board of Trade, the Department of Overseas Trade and the Ministry of Supply, " Overseas customers are now assured of supplies of vehicles, the arrangements being on the basis that export orders shall be fully met. The export interests of the motor industry are, therefore, safeguarded to the utmost possible extent under present conditions."

TRIBUTE TO STAFF

My remarks would not be complete unless I referred to the tremendous efforts which have been put forward by our staff and employees under very trying conditions. Their lot is, of course, a mt.'h happier one than those who are serving the

country's cau under other conditions ; nevertheless, they are doing their jcA well and merit the sincere appreciation of us all.

Your directed. ; look to the future with confidence, as, when the war is over, we cannot believe that the Government—the majority of the members of which so well remember the years succeeding the Great War—will be foolish enough to allow the indiscriminate sale of war-worn vehicles. This had a disastrous effect on the motor and other industries, and as the result, directly and indirectly, much more money was spent in unemployment than was realised in the sale of the vehicles.

However, even if the Government were so illadvised, we are satisfied that the results would be nothing like so disastrous, because the majority of military vehicles these days are totally unsuited to civilian work, although in our case the units out of which they are manufactured are mostly our standard commercial products.

We are quite satisfied that the experience of those large numbers of individuals in the Services operating Guy vehicles under the exacting and arduous conditions of war will stand your company in good stead when those officers and men happily return to civilian duties.

You will remember last year I was able to give you the result of a census showing that 26 per cent. of our vehicles in operation were ten years of age or more, and, needless to say, the varied experience your company is gaining by the operation, under the difficult conditions I have mentioned, will tend to still further enhance the already high reputation your company's products possess.

The balance-sheet and report were unanimously adopted. Mr. Ewart Guy was re-elected a director, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.