Export incentives losing impact, says chairman

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32702, 3 September 1971, Page 23

Export incentives losing impact, says chairman

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, September 2. The net profit returned for the year to April 30 by the Auckland engineering firm, D. McL. Wallace, Ltd, maintained the pattern of improvement of recent years, the chairman (Mr D. McL. Wallace) told the annual meeting.

“Sales for the first three months of this financial year have increased by more than 13 per cent, and profit has also risen. Forward orders are at a very satisfactory level,” the chairman said.

Commenting on the export incentive scheme, Mr Wallace said that he felt the time had come to take a new look at these incentives. “Some solution must be found to keep the incentive in the incentive scheme.” He estimated that if the company just maintained the present dollar value of its export sales (currently 7.5 per cent of total sales), its export tax incentive would fall by 42 per cent from its pre-j sent level by 1974. “To hold our rebate at the

present level we have to increase our exports by more than 30 per cent during the next three years; this is a sales volume three times as great as that for the year in which we won the export award,” the chairman said. “This year we have to achieve 55 per cent of last year’s export sales before we

■ begin to earn any tax ini centive rebate. “Another factor that i should not be lost sight of,” said Mr Wallace, "is that for existing exporters even to maintain their level of exports it is necessary to break fresh ground with new customers and new products every year.” -•*