Commercial C.T.P. reaches goals

Press, 30 August 1978, Page 25

Commercial C.T.P. reaches goals

Canterbury Timber Prod- I ucts, Ltd, has now reached its goals of trading 1 profitably and of 7 days- i a-week production, share- I holders were told at the annual meeting. i Since March, markets in 1 New Zealand and overseas 1 have been expanding said < the chairman (Dr O. F. Hay- : lock). Sales in the four' months since balance date! were 60 per cent higher than; in the same period last year. 1 , “further firm orders have J already been received for all 1 our production scheduled for' September and October, he! said. “Indications of demand be-h sond October lead us to be-: lieve that we shall need top produce as much board as f we can to service orders as far ahead as we can see. ; “Naturally, your directors are gratified with this state of affairs where round-the-clock, 7-days-per-week production has become necessary just two years after we started commercial production,” said Dr Haylock. Nearly 20 per cent of premium Customwood was

being exported, he said. Dr Haylock commented on three items in the balance sheet: the first was the overseas borrowings of SI.4M. “We are aware that the recent adverse changes in the exchange rate of the New Zealand dollar have caused us considerable unrealised losses on these bor- ! rowings. It is our intention ito refinance these loans as | soon as possible, thereby reducing a potential risk to ‘our profits.” For the current portion of I secured loans (almost SIM) i arrangements have been : made or are well in hand for ! refinancing. I The directors intend to j write off, over a limited | number of years, the intangible assets in the books at SI.IM. Dr Haylock was very critical of the lack of Government assistance. “Establishing an industry such as ours by private enterprise without direct government assistance makes one a little cynical with regard to political platitudes.

j “It is ironic that so much ;has been said in government circles about Regional Development and the establishment of new industries, particularly where natural resources are used and then so little is done when the opportunity arises. “I would suggest that CTP lis beyond reasonable doubt a prime example of a new industry which turns an almost worthless waste raw material into a product which has a high value on both the local and export markets. “It is even more so when government officials shelter behind the decision that Canterbury is not designated an area worthy of regional development assistance even though it has one of the highest unemployment levels in the coutnry, in order to deny recognition CTP as a pioneer status industry. “The motives of the politicians who promoted such legislation must be open to question when the legislation is administered in such a short-sighted fashion,” i said Dr Haylock.