[FI logo - a capital 'F'] FrobozzCo International Annual Report 778 GUE FESTERON TOWN LIBRARY 05/18/781 01/32/811 09/11/846 02/07/902 02/21/948 Please take care of me... library books belong to everyone. A MESSAGE TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS ----------------------------- [The first paragraph is actually partly obscured by the library date slip standard packaging!] 778 was a year of continued growth for FrobozzCo and its many subsidiaries. Gross income rose 14% and our revenue increased by 22%. The employment rate now stands at 98.7% for the entire workforce of the Great Underground Empire and is limited only by the birth rate and the size of the Royal Family. Following the completion of the Royal Museum, the Frobozz Magic Cave Company, our largest subsidiary, moved to increase its staff even more as the well-publicized dam and volcano projects moved into full gear. The Cave Company will also be creating the new 400-story FrobozzCo world headquarters in Flatheadia, scheduled to open sometime in 781. More than 18,000 additional subsidiaries were formed or taken over during the last year, further increasing the scope of our industrial empire. FrobozzCo now produces everything from aardvarks to zwieback. I trust that you, as a stockholder, will take the time to read through this report and learn about at least a few of the many exciting things that are going on here at FrobozzCo. It's certainly been a tremendous year, but we're looking forward to an even tremendouser year in 779! John D. Flathead President and Chairman of the Board, FrobozzCo International FROBOZZ MAGIC CAVE COMPANY [Picture] The Frobozz Magic Cave Company has won an unequaled amount of honors, including the much-coveted Dirtiest Shovel in the Great Underground Empire award. The first of FrobozzCo's myriad subsidiaries, the Magic Cave company was formed over a century ago to implement King Duncanthrax's massive tunneling project. Today, the Magic Cave Company is an umbrella for a wide range of underground construction projects. Two of the most ambitious construction projects ever attempted are now on the Magic Cave Company drawing boards. Construction has already started on a dam of staggering proportions that will span the Frigid River. Tentatively called Flood Control Dam Number Three, the dam is scheduled for completion in 783 G.U.E., and comes with a price tag of 37 million zorkmids. Magic Cave Company engineers are planning an amazing project to quench and then hollow out a mighty volcano. The project is being conducted under very tight security, and Lord Dimwit Flathead himself is personally reviewing the plans at each stage. In addition to these landmark projects, the Magic Cave Company created an additional 46,000 linear bloits of tunnel this year, including nearly 200 bloits of Great Underground Highway extension, as well as 8,000 cubic bloits of additional cavern space. FROBOZZ MAGIC TWEEZERS COMPANY [Picture] Our top-of-the-line Model X-1 tweezer is as functional as it is good-looking. One of the newest and brightest members of the FrobozzCo family, the Magic Tweezers Company was formed after a 652,000-zorkmid market research survey revealed a widespread need for a high-quality technologically advanced tweezer. Following several years of planning and development, the Frobozz Magic Tweezer Model A-1 is now ready to roll off the assembly lines and into millions of homes all across the Great Underground Empire. The A-1, which will retail for Zm0.29, has sold briskly in test markets. Within six months, a top of the line Model X-1 tweezer will be introduced and will retail for Zm0.89. Six more models, as well as various add-on accessories, are currently on the drawing board. The Board of Directors of FrobozzCo welcomes the Frobozz Magic Tweezers Company aboard, and is confident that this new division will pluck a lot of business for the parent conglomerate. FROBOZZ MAGIC SPELL COMPANY [Picture] Some truly amazing things materialize at the Frobozz Magic Spell Company. While the well-heeled Enchanters Guild remains the primary customer of the Frobozz Magic Spell Company, the invention of self-casting spell scrolls has created a huge new market for magic technology. Sales increased 11% during 778, marking the twentieth year of steady growth for this lucrative FrobozzCo subsidiary. In response to the growing demand for magic spell accessories, several new FrobozzCo divisions were formed, including the Frobozz Magic Scroll Rack company, the Frobozz Magic Spell Book Company, and the Frobozz Magic Scroll Mailing Tube Company. Four new spells were added to the Magic Spell Company product line this year, a Magic Spell Company record and a tribute to the wizards in FrobozzCo's famous Magiclab. The four new spells are DRILBO (strips a floor of yellowed wax), BORCH (puts insects to sleep), GIZGUM (predicts visits by relatives) and QUELBO (transmutes coconuts into gold). FROBOZZ MAGIC GRUE REPELLENT COMPANY [Picture] Encouraged by the runaway success of their old socks/burning rubber- scented repellent, company scientists increased the product line with seven new odors. The Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent Company is one of FrobozzCo's fastest growing divisions. Sales of grue repellent nearly tripled last year, spurred on by drastic extensive improvements made in the product and by an aggressive marketing campaign. Magic Grue Repellent Company executives can proudly point to a 31% drop in grue-related deaths during the last year, and a consequent 31% drop in the grue population. The discovery of a particularly effective new additive by the Magic Grue Repellent Company's research division has increased the efficiency of the product by 45%. Studies have shown that most grues will not come within 70 feet of someone sprayed with New Improved Repellent. The new additive, dubbed G-17, is also longer-lasting, requiring fewer sprayings, and it can be made from ordinary sand! The Magic Grue Repellent Company also increased the product line with the introduction of seven new odors of repellent, in addition to the regular old socks/burning rubber odor. The new odors include rotting eggs, dead fish, swamp gas, three-week-old meatloaf, gym locker, wet dog and mint. Several ingenious sales strategies were highly successful. The Free- Noseplugs-With-Every-Can campaign, in association with the Frobozz Magic Noseplugs Company, ran for one month and increased sales by 92%. Advertisements featuring grue-mangled corpses ran before and during the peak travel season. Finally, a joint packaging effort with the Frobozz Magic Lantern Company to produce a Frobozz Anti-Grue kit paid off with remarkable end-of-year sales. FROBOZZCO FINANCIAL REPORT [Six times the same diagram:X = "Year" (773-778), Y = "Zorkmids (in millions)" (10-50); but with 6 different captions: SALES, PROFIT, NUMBER OF SUBSIDIARIES, NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, NAME RECOGNITION, GRANOLA SUBSIDIES] FrobozzCo International Income Statement (Zorkmid Amounts in Millions) Year end Year end 778 777 Revenues: Sales of goods and services Zm5,431,922 Zm5,108,113 Sale of property 350,585 -- -- -- -- Other revenues 812,913 656,106 ----------- ----------- TOTAL REVENUES 6,595,420 5,764,219 ----------- ----------- Expenses: Cost of goods and services 2,773,119 2,655,288 Selling, administration, bribes 1,243,984 1,256,712 Depreciation 127,353 112,499 Contributions to Royal Charities 888,307 888,307 Printing of Annual Report 285,238 279,540 ----------- ----------- TOTAL EXPENSES 5,318,001 5,192,346 ----------- ----------- NET INCOME Zm1,277,419 Zm 571,873 =========== =========== Earnings per uncommon share: Continuing operations Zm 2.72 Zm 1.54 Discontinuing operations (0.03) (0.02) ----------- ----------- NET INCOME PER UNCOMMON SHARE Zm 2.69 Zm 1.52 =========== =========== FrobozzCo International Retained Earnings Statement (Zorkmid Amounts in Millions) Year end Year end 778 777 Retained earnings at year opening Zm1,204,445 Zm1,162,556 Net income 1,277,419 571,873 Dividends paid on uncommon stock (894,017) (529,971) Dividends paid on unpreferred stock (24) (13) ----------- ----------- Retained earnings at year end Zm1,587,823 Zm1,204,445 =========== =========== FrobozzCo International Balance Sheet (Zorkmid Amounts in Millions) Year end Year end 778 777 Assets: Cash Zm 393,459 Zm 219,067 Inventories 566,790 465,634 Loans to Royal Family 1,125,000 900,000 Executive Party Fund 107,374 132,252 Plant and Equipment 778,833 596,025 Other assets 325,939 294,606 ----------- ----------- TOTAL ASSETS Zm3,297,395 Zm2,610,584 =========== =========== Liabilities: Short term loans Zm 456,872 Zm 388,431 Accrued payroll deductions 594,311 435,923 Deferred bribes 216,343 209,575 Other liabilities 95,647 80,293 ----------- ----------- Total Liabilities 1,363,173 1,114,222 ----------- ----------- Shareholder's equity: Uncommon stock 345,287 291,054 Unpreferred stock 1,112 858 Retained earnings 1,587,823 1,204,445 ----------- ----------- Total shareholder's equity 1,934,222 1,496,357 ----------- ----------- TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Zm3,297,395 Zm2,610,579 =========== =========== [Picture] Original Headquarters Building Constructed 667 [FI logo - a capital 'F'] FROBOZZCO INTERNATIONAL "You name it, we do it" from Interactive Fiction Archive ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/