Humes expects fall in earnings

Press, 17 March 1977, Page 28

Humes expects fall in earnings

NZPA Sydney The directors of Humes, Ltd, the concrete and steel pipe group, still expect a fall in earnings in the year to June 30, in spite of announcing a 1.6 per cent increase to sAust3.6M in group net profit in the six months to December 31.

At the annual meeting last October, the chairman (Sir Henry Somerset) said that the outlook for the year was so bleak that the directors expected a 7.5 per cent decline in profits. The profit was after a 1.2 per cent drop in group revenue to $9.1.5M. But, while the subsidiaries had a difficult six months,

the parent company raised its net profit 39 per cent to $2.6M dollars after a 14 per cent increase in sales to $35.2M.

The improved trading profits of the parent firm reflected the continued close control of costs and stock levels, the directors said. The profit was before taking into account exchange rate fluctuations which took group earnings from SI.6M to $4.7M.

While the directors say that the half-year result is better than they expected, they, point out that present trends still point to a lower profit for the group in the year to June 30.