1. Annual Accounts

I have pleasure in submitting Income and Expenditure Account for year ended 31st March 1944 and Balance Sheet, together with detailed Statements showing depositors’ balances, open accounts, and transactions.

The Income and Expenditure Account shows normal working expenses to be £108,777 compared with £107,140 for the previous year. Income Tax is up by £7,188, but this is mainly due to the larger amounts involved. Excess income over expenditure is £19,722 compared with £19,837 for 1943.

The Balance Sheet shows the amount standing to credit of depositors to be £59,510,209 – an increase of £8,713,292 on the year, and a larger increase that recorded by any Trustee Savings Bank in their last financial year. The amount on deposit with the Corporation is up by £750,479. Direct investments, in accordance with the arrangement with HM Treasury, are £24,140,000 compared with £16,000,000 in 1943. The amount outstanding on loans for house purchase, etc is down by £215,346. Opportunities to purchase houses are not as prominent as in pre-war days, and there is little inclination to buy at the present time. No doubt, with a return to peace conditions, business in this Department will recover. Land and buildings are now shown at £1,000. For some years advantage has been taken of the opportunity to write off substantial amounts. Reserve for Income Tax and Sundry Debtors is £845,689, which includes £788,543 representing repayment of Tax expected to be received within the next two months. In previous years the calculations have been very near the actual amount recovered.

2. Depositors’ Balances.

The detailed statement of balances due to depositors at various branches, shows many substantial increases. The Maypole Branch, which only opened on the 1st November 1943, records balances of £52,983. When it is realised that business is conducted in temporary premises with very limited accommodation, the result augurs well for the future of the Branch, and when we are able to build permanent premises progress will doubtless be accelerated. Increases at Tower Hill and Wells Green are worthy of note. In both cases business is conducted in temporary wood buildings, which will be replaced by permanent buildings when the war is over. The two Branches at Perry Beeches and Pheasey are only open for 1½ hours per week in small wood buildings. The experiment appears to have been worth while, and the question of providing extended hours of business might be considered in the near future.

3. Open Accounts.

The statement dealing with open accounts shows a grand total of 557,792, being an increase of 20,762 over last year. Every Branch records increases.

4.Transactions.

The statement showing transactions at each Branch indicates the usefulness of the Bank. The summary emphasises the extent to which advantage is taken by the public of facilities to pay Corporation Accounts at Bank counters. It is also a reminder of the help rendered in connection with Home Assistance payments, ARP payments, etc. Savings Certificates were purchased through the Bank during the year to the extent of £1,028,967. The purchase of Defence Bonds, etc amounted to £112,570 during the year.

5. General.

The Bank has had a very successful year, but it has been a heavy strain on the staff. Naturally, the burden has fallen mainly on the permanent staff, but all the staff (both permanent and temporary) have responded willingly to the calls made and done the work well. The strenuous time during “Wings for Victory” campaign cannot be assessed, but the staff threw themselves wholeheartedly into the special Effort. In the forthcoming “Salute the Soldier” campaign, I have no doubt the staff will play a worthy part.

6. War Finance.

The Bank’s contribution to War Finance from the 21st November 1939 to the 31st March 1944 will be appreciated from the following figures: