ASSOCIATED PORTLAND CEMENT.
Exceptional interest attached to the annual meeting held recently of the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers -by reason of the plain statement on the part of the Chairman, Mr. P. Malcolm Stewart, with regard to the achievement of the company during the past 10 years. The Report for the year showed a substantial improvement in profits, but the inwardness of the position is revealed more clearly by a study of the comparison of conditions today with those of i0 years ago. Mr. Stewart reminded the shareholders that 10 years ago he reviewed the unsound initial capitalization of the company in 1900, pointing out how the businesses were purchased on the basis of approximately 10 times the preceding year's profit of 1658,000 without any deduction for manage- ment charges or depreciation. The over-capitalization of the company at that time was very clearly apparent. At the same time, Mr. Stewart recognized the two courses before the company, namely, reducing capital or improving the value of the assets, and he had to face the fact that there was insufficient justification for writing down the capital when the (Continued in next column.)
Financial Notes
(Continued from previous column.) company -was in a strong financial position. Accordingly the policy was adopted of improving the earning capacity of the fixed assets by modernizing the company's two largest works, not by patching them up but by reconstructing theni so as to give an efficiency at least second to none in the country. Certain other works were also reconstructed. and everything was done to put the company in a position to manufacture at the lowest possible costs so that in bad times the company could hold its own against all corners.
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