NEWS IN BRIEF

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33654, 2 October 1974, Page 21

NEWS IN BRIEF

|A.Z. Petroleum losses I The New Zealand Petroleum Company, Ltd, incurred a net loss for the year of '586,103, $10,231 more than I for last year. Licence and exI ploration costs in reliniquished areas totalled ($418,794, and accumulated ■exploration expenditure to (date stands at $805,273. ($263,155 lower than the total I for last year. Grace Bros ahead The group net profit of I Grace Brothers Holdings, Ltd, the Australian retailer, rose 10.73 per cent $5.5m in the year ended July 27, after sales had increased 25 per cent. For the January halfyear, however, the net profit was up 27.4 per cent on a (25 per cent increase in sales. (The company put the blame for the lower profits on unIprecedented wage increases, (inflation, and industrial un- ■ rest.

Production, sales fall Mineral Deposits, Ltd, reported a 50.7 per cent decline in profits for the half-year to June 30, after a 22.3 per cent fall in sales for the period. Production of rutile, zircon, and monazite was 20,552 tonnes lower at 25,595 tonnes. The interim dividend is maintained at 6 per cent. Sales were lower because of the reduced volume of shipments during the 1974 period, strikes, and delays in obtaining mining rights. The rise in prices should assist the results for 1974, the directors said. Penfolds’ profit Penfolds Wines Australia, Ltd, increased pre-tax profits 110 per cent in the year ended June 30, but the improvement is much less than the directors had expected. Earnings rose from $652,366 to $1,370,199, less than the predicted 150 per cent. The net profit rose 114.4 per cent — from $261,940 to $561,660. The annual dividend has been maintained at 10 per cent. New components should alleviate the shortfall in capacity, but the group’s operations in New Zealand would be affected by Government control, the directors said. Con. Press pays 56 p.c. Consolidated Press Holdings, Ltd, the Sydney news group, has increased its net trading profit 10.1 per cent to $3.2m for the year to June 29. Revenue rose 20.9 per cent. An extraordinary loss of sl.sm was incurred in the last year compared with an extraordinary profit of $74,249 in the previous year. The inclusion of this extra-

(ordinary loss reduces the {group’s net surplus for the {year to sl.7m, 44 per cent less than in the previous year. Provision for depreciation rose by $120,000 to sl.7m and tax by $400,000 to s3.Bm. The dividend for the year has been maintained at 56 per cent. Fairfax dir. loner John Fairfax, Ltd. the newspaper publisher and television operator, is reducing its annual dividend rate from 20 per cent to 17 per cent (after a 7.7 per cent decline in net profit for the year ended June 30. A final dividend of 7 per cent has been recommended, compared with 1 10 per cent last year. The net profit for the last vear was $378,000 lower at $4,553,000, despite an increase of 21.8 jper cent in total revenue. (Provision for depreciation rose $583,000 to $4.2m and ■ tax provision was $1,6..t higher at $7.7m.