Business briefs

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 24

Business briefs

Mary Kathleen The chairman of Mary Kathleen Uranium, Ltd, (Mr J. L. Liebelt) presented a ;. gloomy outlook of the, company’s prospectsto the annual -meeting in Melbourne, - ’and. forecast ~ that : mining:. operations could cease in. 1983, a -year earlier than, previously .■ estimated. Mr tiebelt'said;,that a softening of prices would lower the average contracted price received for 1981 deliveries by 15 per cent although output was expected to exceed sales. In addition, higher prices for fuel • add sulphur and increased- costs in. deep.eriing the; pit, would lower profitability,, In 'l9BO profit fell:. tp $11.2 - million, from $17.3' million in 1979. No . dividend was expected this year and Mr Liebelt said that no, statement on future dividend policy is expected before early 1982.

Fruit Dist. profit Fruit-Distributors, Ltd, reported a tax-paid profit for the year ended December 31 of ..$59,920. The company’s ajgriuaL -report’ records a 'record Igross turnover of $38.9 with a' gross profit of $562,609. This compares with last years’s gross turnover of $34.3 million with a gross profit of $895,107 and a tax-paid profit of $265,064. Fruit Distributors was established in • 1951 at . the request of the government to import bananas; citrus.. pineapples and grapes, to encourage the development •of the fruit business in the Pacific Islands, and to maintain “a reasonable measure of protection” to the New Zealand citrus and grape-growing industries.

McKee-2 well Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand (Exploration), Ltd said that the production testing of McKee-2 well is continuing. The flow rate has been around 1100 barrels of oil a day last week. Natural gas continued, to be. produced at 770 cubic feet per barrel of oil. A total of 34,486

barrels have been produced to date. The oil produced is being taken by road tanker directly to the Shell BP Todd Oil Services, Ltd, Paratutu tank farm, for transportation to the Marsden Point refinery.

Talbot in Iran The Talbot car company is in the final stages of negotiating a five-year deal with Iran worth more than $2400 million. The firm announced that the contract — to supply hundreds of thousands of engines and other parts from its Stoke plant in Coventry, to the Iran National Industrial Manufacturing Company — will be one of the largest export orders ever won by a British company. Talbot and its predecessor, Chrysler, have done major business with Iran for more than a decade — but the value of the orders dropped dramatically during the Iranian troubles. Pan Pac Mill

A Swedish firm. Sunds Dcfibrator has won the contract to convert’ the Carter Oji Kokusaku Pan Pacific (PanPac) pulp mill at Napier from refiner groundwood pulp to flash-dried TMP. the Swedish Embassy announced. The price of the contract was not given. Production at the mill will increase from 650 tons of mechanical pulp a day to 830 tons of flashdried TMP when the conversion is completed. Sunds Defibrator will rebuild and expand the fibre line and add five refiners. The equipment for the job is due at the end of the year, with start-up scheduled for the first half of next year. Oil profits fall

Two of the biggest United States oil companies have reported that the slump in demand for petroleum products in the United States and abroad reduced firstquarter profits from record levels a year earlier. Exxon Corporation, which is not only the biggest United

States oil company but the biggest industrial corporation, said that profits fell 16.9 per cent to $l6OO million, although revenues rose to $30,320 million. In Pittsburgh. Gulf Oil Corporation, the fifth-largest United States oil company, reported a 22 per cent fall in first quarter profits. Aust, economy The latest Australian statistics published by the Australian Government are:— • Retail sales figures disclosed a growth of 4.5 per cent above the level of the preceding three-month period. New fixed capital expenditure by private enterprises rose by an exceptionally strong 24 per cent in the half year to December and businesses expect further strong growth for the second half of 1980/81. • Although total employment eased seasonally in January, growth over the year to January remained strong. • The level and rate of unemployment in February was lower than in February, 1980, particularly for juniors looking for fulltime work, while unfilled vacancies increased further in January. • Average weekly earnings rose 13.7 per cent during 1980, which compares with a Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise of 9.2 per cent for the same period. • The food group index of the CPI increased 1.1 per cent in January. • Growth in the volume of money, M 3, slowed to 11.5 per cent measured over the 12 months to January, although some of this decline reflected special factors which will be unwound in coming months. • The turnaround in the trade account to deficit in February was a major factor contributing to the over-all balance of payments deficit of $45 millinn