Hamersley raises interim div.

Press, 19 August 1977, Page 10

Hamersley raises interim div.

Hamersley Holdings, Ltd,| has raised its interim divi-1 :dend from 4c a share to Bcj a share after group net! {profit rose 6.8 per cent to! $89.2M in the six months to! June 30. Sales rose 13.1 per cent to| $191.3M because of a deva-; luation in the Australian |i dollar in November, 1976, | and an increase in average:: selling prices of ore. •i The profit was after pro-li j viding S2M more for depre- I ciation at $24.5M. $7.6M: i more for tax at S22M, and i SI.9M more for possible fut-i ure losses at $3.6M. Interest 1 payments increased $3.4M $14.4M. < The increase in net earn- ( ings compared with the 1 same period of last year was ( because of the increased rev- £ enue but partially off-set by t

(higher production costs, the I directors say. i The provision for possible exchange losses on future | loan repayments applicable to the period was higher be- • cause of the lower exchange |rate for the Australian dol- ; lar compared with a year | ago. I Net earnings for the final three months to June 30 was an improvement on first quarter results because of higher production, increase in tonnage shipped and a better industrial climate. The increase in amount of! loans outstanding from $257.9M to 8340.7 M was caused by a SUSBOM Eurobond note and debenture issue to help finance the current expansion programme. The proceeds of this were received in January. ‘