Business English Listening Practice

Melanie Short: Good afternoon, Mr. Peters.

Mr. Peters: Good afternoon.

Melanie Short: I'm Melanie Short, from our bank's Business Loan Department, I understand you wanted to speak to somebody today about getting a loan for your company.

Mr. Peters: Yes, that's right.

Melanie Short: You had a loan from us last year, didn't you?

Mr. Peters: Yes, we did.

Melanie Short: Excellent, can you tell me something about your company? What is its name?

Mr. Peters: Pool Protect.

Melanie Short: Okay, and what do you do?

Mr. Peters: We make swimming pool covers.

Melanie Short: Oh, I didn't know such companies exist.

Mr. Peters: Well, it's very important to cover your swimming pool if you have one and are not using it. You can stop leaves going into it, but it makes your home and your garden a lot safer if you have young children.

Melanie Short: Of course, it's very dangerous to have an open pool.

Mr. Peters: Yes, it is.

Melanie Short: And how is your company doing, Mr. Peters? Are you financially strong?

Mr. Peters: Well, the company started three years ago. We have 24 people working for us and we now have two offices. We want to open a third office next year. This is one of the reasons that we want the loan from you.

Melanie Short: What about profits? I have all the documents saved in my e-mail, but you can tell me something, just a summary, please.

Mr. Peters: We made a small loss in the first year because of manufacturing costs.

Melanie Short: That's understandable.

Mr. Peters: Yes. In our second year, we made a small profit and we increased this profit by 40% last year.

Melanie Short: 40% is very good, Mr. Peters. Do you sell only in this country?

Mr. Peters: We have some international sales and this is another reason we need extra capital.

Melanie Short: Oh?

Mr. Peters: We need some money to go to international trade fairs and also to pay for some newspaper and magazine advertising in some selected countries.

Melanie Short: Which countries?

Mr. Peters: The United Kingdom, Ireland, Holland and Germany. We are very ambitious about the future.

Melanie Short: I'm very happy to hear it. You said you have a workforce of 24 -- do you think you will take on more people if you increase your international business?

Mr. Peters: Absolutely. We need new people, international salespeople, interpreters, advertising and marketing people, and so on.

Melanie Short: What are your profit forecasts for the current year, Mr. Peters?

Mr. Peters: We forecast profits about 30 to 40% above last year's.

Melanie Short: Okay, we can give you an answer for the loan in the next day or two. We will call you, but I don't think there will be any problems.

Mr. Peters: Thank you very much.

Melanie Short: Goodbye.

Mr. Peters: Goodbye.