UNKNOWN BIDDER FOR PRESTIGE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31727, 10 July 1968, Page 17

UNKNOWN BIDDER FOR PRESTIGE

(N.Z. Preet Association—Copyright? MELBOURNE, July 9. Prestige, Ltd, the Australian textile group, is expecting a take-over offer of its ordinary shares as a result of talks now being held. Directors warned shareholders not to sell their shares.

The announcement gave no indication of the identity of the likely bidder or the terms of the expected offer. The company’s 50c shares closed at 133 c on the Melbourne Stock Exchange yesterday. At this price, the compny’s ordinary shares are worth $10.3m. Net tangible asset backing

for each ordinary share was 119 c at March 31, 1967. The balance-sheet for the latest year is not available yet The preliminary profit announcement for the latest year, released on May 27, showed that the group earned a record net profit of $1,280,060. Dividend was held at 12} per cent for the sixth successive year.

Prestige operates widely in the clothing and textile industry. The 1967 blance-sheet shows that group rales totalled $33.14m. The company is one of the biggest customers of Fibremakers, Ltd, the nylon and polyester fibre manufacturer which is a subsidiary of 1.C.1.A.N.Z., Ltd. Six weeks ago, the managing director of Prestige (Mr A. G. Eastwood) forecast continuance of a trend to fewer textile businesses and substantial increases in the size and scale of those remaining. Mr Eastwood pointed out that in Britain the two largest producers of man-made fibres, 1.C.1. and Courtaulds, had acquired or controlled a large part of the textile industry as a means of gaining outlets for their production. 1.C.1. subsidiary Fibremakers is the only Australian producer of apparel and industrial nylon end polyester fibres. Courtaulds Is the sole Australian producer of acetate apparel yarns and of viscose Industrial yams. The entry of another large producer or marketer of manmade fibres into Australia most likely would be in the field of nylon and polyester, and could create competition for control of the user industries, as in Britain, Mr Eastwood added.