5
Seventy Words per Minute
(Fifty minutes allowed for transcription)
The oblique lines, /, mark the division of time, hut the reader must not
ake a pause when they occur, unless the sense requires it. The double lines, / /,
lark the completion of each minute.
The thirty-eighth annual general meeting of the company was held
on February 16th, in Edinburgh.
The / following is an extract from the statement read by Mr. Thomas
Kelly who presided in the absence of / the chairman :
The accounts covering the year to 30th November, 1959, show
group / trading profits of £300,000, a decrease of £52,000 compared with
the previous / / year. As in the present year there has been a reduction
in taxation it is possible to / propose a small increase of dividend. The
directors recommend payment of a dividend on the ordinary stock at /
the rate of 12-|- per cent, less income tax.
At the end of his / statement last year the chairman said that if
there was any recession in trade this business would be / / one of the
first to be affected, and this has proved to be the case. In those / parts
of the country in which our sales are greatest, unemployment figures
proved to be the highest for / many years. Other factors, too, operated
against us—the reduction in overtime in industry, more attractive
terms / for hire purchase, and a poor summer from the point of view of
sales. The reduction of the / / tax on certain of our products in last
year’s Budget has so far not been followed by / increased sales, although
in the case of two of our bottled manufactures there appears to have
been a / very slight improvement in consumption. This was, however,
almost certainly due to the better weather we had / in the early part of
the season.
As far as overseas markets are concerned we have had a / / most
satisfactory year and our future prospects still appear to be good. We
have established firm trading / links with the United States, of America
and with several of the South American countries. Two of your / directors
visited these places recently and their reports confirm that trading
prospects are very bright; they also / comment favourably on the work
being done by the manager and his staff at our New York office. / /