Brierley profit lower

Press, 7 April 1978, Page 14

Brierley profit lower

The equity-accounted . unaudited group net profit I of Brierley Investments. Ltd,' I for the six months to December 31 fell $24,000 or 2.6 .per cent to $909,000. i The equity share of profits I of associated companies fell >5230,000 to $llB,OOO. The provision for tax rose $174,000 to $652,000. and | depreciation of $1,746,000 I was $618,000 higher. Minority interests rose I $337,000 to $885,000. “The net profit of $909,000 shows a marginal reduction on the figure of I $933,000 recorded for the! same period last year. The! (extent to which this represents either a good or a bad performance in the circum-, ■ stances, depends upon inter-' [pretations of the various, factors influencing the result,” the company says. “Trading conditions in New Zealand have been ex-, ceptionally difficult. This ap-> plies in particular to those) companies which are structured to relatively high-vol-! ume in order to support proper levels of employment capital investment. “Profit has been assisted by several abnormal transactions which happened to ■come to account during the period, and without which the fall in earnings would have been more severe,” the report says. Details of trading profit, and capital profits were not ; given. “interest charges, and

i other expenses in relation to our holding of shares in 'Kempthorne Prosser and i Company, Ltd, exceeded income from the same source land have been written off [during the period. 1 “In Australia, our subsidiary company, Industrial Equity, Limited, experienced a successful half year, and : seems likely to achieve an'other record result. “In our opinion the immediate economic outlook in New Zealand has rareh been less encouraging, and even looking further ahead it is difficult to be other than somewhat pessimistic. “In respect of our own prospects we are well placed to assist the rationalisation processes which will continue to be a necessary feature of the economy, and on this basis we anticipate a reasonably satisfactory result for the full year “It is unlikely, however, that the rate of growth will be as rapid as in previous years,” the report says. An interim ordinary dividend of 10 per cent (5c a share) will be paid on June 2 on those shares eligible. (This does not include shares issued as a result of the recent l-for-5 cash issue and the l-for-5 bonus issue). The dividend which will require $211,500 (211,50(1) will be paid 5 per cent (2.5 c a share) from tax exempt revenue reserves, and 5 per cent (2.5 c a share) from profits.