Convertible note issue by S.O.F.

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32846, 21 February 1972, Page 18

Convertible note issue by S.O.F.

(Few Zealand Press Association)

DUNEDIN, February 18.

A prospectus for the issue of 680,000 unsecured convertible notes of 100 c each has been sent by the South Otago Freezing, Ltd, to shareholders.

The purpose is the financing of the No. 5 chain at the works, and new cool store installations and other ancillary activities. Existing shareholders will be offered the notes at par, in the ratio of one note for every two shares held on January 31 this year. The prospectus said that the company’s directors considered that the company was in a particularly sound position relative to the industry and recommended shareholders to take up their entitlements.

The chairman (Mr J. D. Cochrane) said the company would be operating the new dressing chain this season, which would provide an additional capacity of 120,000 lambs a year immediately, and would increase potential beyond this to a further 365,000 lamb .equivalents a season.

“This will make our total processing operation a much more economic proposition, and should play a significant part in our over-all profit-

ability in the future,” Mr Cochrane said.

Expenditure is currently being undertaken by the company to allow for development into beef feeding techniques; these experiments are being conducted with a view to increasing the length of the beef processing season at the works. Mr Cochrane said results to date had been encouraging, and the directors were confident that a more realistic loading on beef killing operations would be achieved in the foreseeable future. The strong growth in cattle numbers m the area was being watched carefully and further processing capacity would be provided when stock numbers justified it.