Record £64.261 Profit By Invercargill Licensing Trust

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28972, 13 August 1959, Page 23

Record £64.261 Profit By Invercargill Licensing Trust

<t»ew Zealand Press Association)

INVERCARGILL, August 12. A record net profit of £64,261 was made by the Invercargill Licensing Trust last year. It was a year of records, for the turnover at £927,894 was the highest ever, and for the first time there was no overdraft at the balance date. This means that, although the trust has been in existence for only 15 years, all of its real assets with a net book value of £422.585 and a true present-day value of double that amount, are now completely free of debt. These facts are revealed in the annual report of the chairman (Mr T. J. Breayley), which was tabled in Parliament yesterday.

Turnover should reach £1.000,000 this financial year. There has been only one year since the inception of the trust in 1944 that it has not risen substantially. After providing for all contingencies, including depreciation at £23,612 and £62,000 for taxation, net profit is £6398 more than the £57,863 made in the previous year. Liquor Sales Up Liquor sales at £791,615 show an increase of £81.380, although in many of the principal lines, less quantities were sold. ' The increased figures are due mainly to the increase in duty and sales tax imposed during the year. Board and residence income at £121,147 is lower by £5730. Of the profit, £4OOO has been set aside for distribution and £60,216 transferred to the revenue reserve account, which now stands ht £393,893. It hoped to call tenders goon

for the new Kelvin Hotel, a multi - storeyed accommodation house for 125 guests, with full bar and lounge facilities and shops to two street frontages. The year has been a most difficult one, says Mr Breayley. Import restrictions made rationing of imported lines of liquor necessary.

The new duty rates had a serious and permanent effect on the demand for spirits and bottled beer, sales of both being down by about 50 per cent.