Price freeze catches The Press’

Press, 16 July 1982, Page 8

Price freeze catches The Press’

Trading by the Christchurch Press Company, Ltd, in the first three months of the new financial year had been in line with budget, said the chairman (Mr A. A. Macfarlane) at the annual meeting yesterday. “But the recently imposed price freeze will leave the company with some cost increases that cannot be matched by charges," he said.

The costs could be recovered only by an increase in volume, which would depend largely upon the over-all effect that the freeze, and possibly tax changes, would have on the economy in the second half of the financial year.

The Government's statement that the "creeping peg"

devaluation of the New Zealand dollar would cease was welcomed by the directors; the company’s liabilities for payment overseas were material.

Except for the parts damaged in Rotterdam, the new printing press had arrived in Christchurch, and construction would begin soon. The company hoped that replacement parts would arrive from Britain in time for the new press to be working by March, Mr Macfarlane said.

The meeting passed a special resolution to split the 100 c shares into 50c units, and new share certificates will be issped on August 31. Trading in the 50c units is expected to coincide with the issue of the certificates.