Brother looks to bigger profits

Press, 24 September 1983, Page 22

Brother looks to bigger profits

Brother Distributors, Ltd, expected a much bigger profit figure next year than the one announced this year, said the managing director, Mr R. R. A. McLauchlan, at the annual meeting yesterday. Because of the downturn in industry, the industrial machines division was not as profitable as had been expected, but other areas were doing well, he said. Brother announced a net trading profit up 31.5 per cent to $135,222 in the year to March 31, before extraordinary profits of $56,515 (nil previously). The chairman, Mr A. R. Guthrey, said that the industrial division, formerly Abron Machines, Ltd,- of Lower Hutt, was mainly involved in textiles and motor vehicle-assembly industries which had incurred downturns. Although the motorassembly industry had not yet recovered Brother was beginning to get orders from the textile area. It had been decided to discontinue the Abron name and have the company trade under the Brother title, he said. Since the take-over of Abron, liquidity had been tight.. This had been caused by the time lag between buying the machines

overseas and selling them in New Zealand.

Tight liquidity would continue as long as the demand for Brother equipment continued, he said. The company had been negotiating with its principals in Japan on the matter of the time lag between paying for the machines and selling them in New Zealand. The directors had accepted shareholders’ advice from last year and appointed a marketing manager. In reply to a shareholder’s question about the company’s twenty-fifth listing anniversary, Mr Guthrey said that the directors would be considering an issue next year to celebrate, but whether it was a bonus or cash issue had yet to be decided.