Notice of Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Lower Waitaki Irrigation Company Limited will be held at the Lower Waitaki Golf Club on the
21st day of September 2016 at 7.30pm.
Agenda
- Welcome
- Apologies
- Election of Directors – Mr M Kingsbury retires by rotation and is seeking re-election. Mr A Verbakel retires by rotation and is not seeking re-election.
- Special Shareholder Resolution (see over page)
That pursuant to Sec 207I of the Financial Reporting (Amendments to Other Enactments) Act 2013, that Lower Waitaki Irrigation Company Ltd shall opt out of compliance with Section 201(preparation of financial statements that comply with generally accepted accounting practice) in relation to the accounting period ended 30 June 2016.
- Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
- Matters arising from the minutes
- To receive and approve the chairman’s / directors’ report for the year ended 30
June 2016
- To receive and approve the financial statements and auditor’s report for the year
ended 30 June 2016
- To appoint Audit Professionals as auditor for the ensuing year and to authorise the directors to fix the remuneration of the auditor
- To authorise and fix the directors’ remuneration.
- General Business
To transact any other business which may be brought forward per the Constitution of the company.
- Announcement of results- Election of Directors.
By Order of the Board
Moira Bishop
Company Administrator
Oamaru
Email: moira@lowerwaitakiirrigation.co.nz
Special Resolution of Shareholders
Sec 201 of the Financial Reporting (Amendments to Other Enactments) Act 2013 requires the company to prepare financial statements that comply with generally accepted accounting practice.
Our auditor, Audit Professionals, advised that under generally accepted accounting practice the company should prepare financial statements that are compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
There is an option under Sec 207I of the Financial Reporting (Amendments to Other Enactments) Act 2013 to opt out of compliance with Section 201. To do so requires, at a meeting of the shareholders, a resolution to be passed by not less than 95% of the votes of shareholders entitled to vote and voting at that meeting.
Of course the company needs to prepare financial statements that meet the needs of all readers of the accounts, we are confident the current financial statements are adequate.
The 2015 Annual Report for the company was 22 pages, including 6 pages of Notes to the Financial Statements.
When we compare this to comparable irrigation companies reporting under IFRS, we see Annual Reports of 40 – 45 pages, with Notes to the Financial Statements comprising 30 pages.
For those companies, we also analysed their costs for the last 4 years, accountancy fees ranged from $27,000 – $53,000 with audit fees in the range of $8,500 – $16,000.
In comparison LWIC fees were: accountancy $12,000, audit $3,700.
It is difficult to see the benefit of this increased level of reporting for shareholders, given it comes with a significantly increased compliance cost.
It will be necessary to pass this resolution at future Annual General Meetings.
If you have any questions in relation to the proposed resolution please contact Fraser McKenzie, McKenzie & Co, in the first instance, fraser@mckenzieca.co.nz or 03 434 7944.