Record Lombard year

Press, 29 November 1979, Page 21

Record Lombard year

PA Wellington ! Lombard New Zealand, (Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National i Westminster Bank of the United Kingdom, earned a record net profit in the year, to September 30. The profit, of $1,070,716, is an increase of 15.2 per cent on the pro-; fit for the previous financial year. In tis report the General

manager (Mr T. W. Fitz-'i gerald) said new advances)] during the year increased il 27.5 per cent to $43.5M, and! were well spread in terms ofnumbers of accounts, in- ■ dustry groups, and occupa- I tions of borrowers. ' Total assets during the ; l year increased a record 33 '< iper cent to 560.9 M. '1 Funds required were., raised principally by the) issue of debenture stock, ‘ which increased during the)’ year 45.7 per cent toil $40.9M.

Mr Fitzgerald noted that while the Government had implemented various measures to control the money supply, and private sector credit, the rate of inflation in the economy continued to increase, pushing up the business sector’s funding requirements.

Liquidity, was expected to tighten further during the next 12 months, and this,

'combined with reduced mar'gins resulting from the [higher cost of money, and ' the compulsory investment iin Government securities, would affect growth during the coming financial year. This, in turn, would adversely affect the ability .of financiers to provide funds for capital equipment necessary for the continuing development of New Zealand industry and resources, said Mr Fitzgerald.