I am pleased to submit my first and last Company Secretary’s report covering financial year 2015/16. The Company’s Financial Statements were approved by the Board on the 26th October 2016 and have been independently checked and examined by Mackenzie Kerr Ltd in accordance with the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. There was no need for a full audit this year as the turnover was below the required figure.
The Balance Sheet on page 6 of the Accounts shows that the Company is in good Financial Health with total Assets of £1.486m (after deducting all outstanding Liabilities). Current Assets are also showing a healthy balance of £232k.
On the trading side the Board had two main objectives for the financial year. The first was to increase the amount generated from its investments, and to that end the gross amount of investment income was in excess of £100k. The net income after deduction of Investment Management fees was £95,306, which is an increase of £79k over that achieved in 2014/15.
The overall return on the opening asset value was 6.4% with the return generated by Brewin Dolphin an excellent 8.32%. Throughout the year, we continued to realise assets and transfer them to Brewin Dolphin, all funds were finally in their hands by November of this year.
The second financial objective was to increase the value of grants awarded and an increase of 44% was achieved in 2015/16, with total grants distributed amounting to £188,185. This of course follows a significant increase last year of 39%, so the trend is certainly heading in the right direction.
As explained at last year’s AGM there was a significant receipt of wind farm income right at the end of the financial year, that receipt represented an early boost to the Revenue Account. The ongoing payments received in this financial year amounted to £95,783.
So, in conclusion I can say that the Company is in good financial health and achieved both financial objectives for 2015/16.
David Robertson Company Secretary December 2016