Handsome profits in Management Game

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33521, 30 April 1974, Page 17

Handsome profits in Management Game

The half-way point has' been reached in the first' round of the National Man-i agement Game, 1974, and competition is tightening noticeably. Four times as' many companies moved from profit to loss as from loss to profit with their, fourth decisions. r The administrator (Mr E. V. Sale) told “The Press” that the lead changed in

one-fifth of the games, and ■ that in another fifth, the (teams with the highest total (profit have seen their lead ; reduced. Profits, however, are the general order of the day — (some of them now very (handsome indeed. Five companies have accumulated tax-paid balances of $ll million or more, and there were 'several tax-paid profits for

jthe last quarter of more' ithan S 3 million. But experience last year suggests that only about' half of those now ahead in : their games will still be in | the lead at the end of the; round; and a number of] games will be won by a] final brilliant stroke of bust-! ness. Most of the teams remain] ;behind the mask of their] pseudonyms — so that all] jthat can be recorded is such: ]trends as British Enterprises] ‘leading from Nincompoops;! Probers 74 from Frantic and] Pathetic; Camel Drivers; .from Shylock and Company; land The Ants from Popski's] ■Army. Trendsetters are liviing up to their name. Five) ;Guys as well as Five Bad! Guys both lead, but Six) Guys do not. Regionally, the game is showing some variation in business temperament. Wellington teams tend to play a middle price game, but both Auckland province and the South Island have favoured lower prices, even in bidding for contracts. Auckland province and the South Island also provide the contests with fewest upsets, and more games are being played in the South Island without recourse to emergency borrowing. The South Island also is the only area not to have any teams with profits over $lO million. As the 452 companies enter their second simulated year of trading, more of them have narrow leads than big leads. And, as an indication of how fortunes can change, 17 of the 108 half-way leaders were last in their games after their first

■; decision, when two of them ; I were actually showing a [loss, and one'had made the princely profit of SI. A team from “The Press” — comprised wholly i ■of journalists — is in it’s, 'irightful position in its game.' .! However, it is being hard'pressed. The following teams are 'leading in South Island ■(games at the half-way ( s t a g e :-Mogul (Dunedin); i|s4.7m; Shufflebotham Enter- I (prises (Christchurch) SB.9m;. iLode Limited (Christchurch)' (88.3 m 7th Flow Adventists; :(Christchurch) $6.7m; Black' ■!& Tan Group (Christchurch); Mirto Corporation! i (Christchurch) 54.6 m; ( (Untangle (Christchurch) I . <S9.4m; Mathtik (Christ-! Jchurch) 55.3 m; Balance' I Syndicate (Christchurch) $6.3m: Broke Enterprises (Christchurch) 55.3 m; Cuckoo Clock Cleaners . (Christchurch) ss.9nr, Papyrus Enterprises (Mataura) $4.5m; Gladbags Syndicate (Mataura) sB.om; The Scarecrows (Marlborough) ss.Bm Knit w i t s Incorporated (Dunedin) $7.2m; Christchurch Press Co. $6.2m.