Command profit, dividend higher: bonus issue

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 20

Command profit, dividend higher: bonus issue

Commercial

Command Services Cor- i poration. Ltd. progressive i and diversified Christchurch-' based services company, I continues successfully to buck the economic trendy and is continuing to enjoy increased profitability.

The directors have! declared a higher interim i dividend on capital increased Iby the recent one-for-onei i bonus issue. Compared with | last year’s interim dividend, ith year’s payout of 3.5 c effectively raises the dis- i tribution from 3c to 7c al share on the old capital. i The directors have also; decided to make a further! one-for-two bonus issue, in line with their policy of sharing the benefits of the i company’s progress with the i shareholders, the chairman | (Mr E. A. Crothall) said. i Moreover, the directors | expect to recommend a final; dividend of 3.5 c a share.; This total dividend of 14 per; cent would be equivalent to! a rate of 35 per cent on the! old capital, or almost double! the previous distribution. Group net profit rose 10.01 per cent to about $364,000 in the latest six months to October 16: profit before tax increased 6.5 per cent to $639,000, afte- turnover im-! proved 11.4 per cent to! .almost 521.5 M.

Asked if the succession of! ; bonus issues were a defensive move on the part of the 'directors, the deputy managing director (Mr A. J. McGrath) said that this wasp not the case. The directors I, , simply felt that the company I, lst.ll had scope to make in-!' I creased distributions, he it [said. in his interim report to ! shareholders, Mr Crothall I; said that despite the difficult [i state of the New Zealand i economy, the turnover mo-j mentum of las' year wash maintained. “This has not been i achieved easily but does ex- I emplify the high quality of: < our managers and their j I staff,” he said. [1 “Among our catering andii

i various food production and distribution services the developing growth of the synergetic systems for hospi- 1 ta's food distribution is most I encouraging. Other sectors lof our food operations are, (developing well in Australia) (with a strong likelihood of export incentives. "Indeed, all of our Australian operations are moving, at an excellent pace, contrib-l ■uting substantially to our] ; over-all profit. “Altogether, the various] development projects are showing considerable promise of future profit while our established companies; continue to produce at a sat-i isfactory rate. This should! be another good profit-earn-l ling year,” Mr Crothall said. I

Mr Paul Rhodes, of Christchurch, who has been elected president of the NewZealand Rental Vehicle Association. Mr Rhodes is managing director of A. C. Rhodes. Ltd. Rhodes Rent-A-Car, Ltd. and Cross Country Rentals (5.1.), Ltd. He is a member of Sales Marketing Executives International and an associate of the New- Zealand Institute of Management and the Institute of the New Zealand Motor Industry-.