A.H.I. not confident

Press, 29 July 1978, Page 19

A.H.I. not confident

PA Auckland Markets in some areas could deteriorate further before any real economic improvement, the chairman of Alex Harvey Industries, Ltd (Mr N. H. Avery) said at the annual meeting.

It was hard to be too confident for the months ahead, because trading for the first quarter of the current year was at a much lower level than last year, he said. Government moves late last year, and the Budget were designed to put a little more impetus into the economy. To date, there was little to show from these moves, but care had to be taken to avoid too quick al

recovery lest it added to balan c e-o f-p aym e n t and inflation difficulties. When the country worked its way out of the present state, a rapid rise in imports must be avoided, and industry would have to lift production and utilise its surplus capacity quickly. A.H.I. was aiming to make exports account for a much larger proportion of its total turnover, Mr Averv said.

The 14 per cent dividend for the year (equal to 21 per cent on pre-bonus capital) was in line with the board’s decision that it was reasonable to distribute about onethird of tax paid profits in the present circumstances. In 1977, the dividend on prebonus capital was 16 per cent.