ICI Australia earns record $34M

Press, 14 December 1977, Page 23

ICI Australia earns record $34M

NZPA Sydney ICI Australia, Ltd, earned a record net profit of sAust33.9M in the year to September 30. The Melbourne - based group, which is 62 per cent owned by Imperial Chemical I Industries, Ltd, of the United Kingdom, has reported that net earnings in the latest year rose 57.86 per cent from $21.5M to $33.9M, which is well ahead of the previous peak of $22.4M in 1974. In the opening six months of the year the company increased net profit 53.2 per cent to $14.0M, and because it traditionally earns a bigger profit in the second half of its year, tipsters were expecting a profit of about S3OM for the full year.

The profit reported reflects much-improved profitability of several key installations, because of greater capacity-utilisation. Consumer demand generally continued to be weak, but improved demand from some industries enabled most of the company’s plants to function close to capacity, the directors said. Sales of the company’s chemicals, plastics, fertilisers and pharmaceuticals increased both in volume and value. However, the directors said that while demand for industrial explosives was higher than in 1976, it did not show the improvement expected, because of the

.slower growth in the mining i and quarry industries. . In addition, sales in the [latter part of the year were adversely affected by unusually dry weather over a large part of Australia. The group’s paint-making subsidiary, Dulux Australia, Ltd, and 1.C.1. New Zealand, Ltd, and Australian Fertilizer’s, Ltd, all achieved improvements in sales and profit. 1.C.1. Australia, which announced in July its first approach to shareholders for funds in just over 12 years, is fulfilling dividend expectations by declaring a steady final dividend of 8c a share, bringing the annual rate to 14c compared with 13c a share previously.