Briefs

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 22

Briefs

AVM issue Audio, Video, and Musical Electronics, Ltd, the Christchuch consumer electronics group, has announced that its share issue closed on April 30 oversubscribed. The issue of 1M 50c shares, 600,000 shares for the public and 400,000 reserved for the directors, opened on April 9. The managing director, Mr David Wells, said that some scaling down was necessary, but no shareholder would lose their entitlement to a discount on purchases from the company. Skellerup board Sir George Chapman has been appointed the deputy chairman of Skellerup Industries, Ltd. Sir George nas been a director of the company since 1982. He is a senior partner in Chapman Ross and Company, the chartered accountants in Lower Hutt. He is also a director of the Bank of New Zealand, Landmark Properties, Ltd, and Perry Dines Corporation, Ltd, and is a former president of the National Party. Beachcomber sold Fiji’s luxurious Beachcomber Hotel at Pacific Harbour, near Suva, has been sold for a reported SNZ2.S million to Pacific Hotels, Ltd. The hotel is being sold by the Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation, which has just bought the Travelodge chain. The sale will enable Travelodge to continue the redevelopment of their two other Fiji hotels, the Nadi Travelodge, and Suva Travelodge. Degree given The chairman and chief executive of Fletcher Challenge, Ltd, Mr Ron Trotter, has been presented with an honorary Doctor of Law degree by Wellington’s Victoria University. He received his honorary degree at the university’s graduation ceremony. Mr Trotter was praised for the large part he had played in transforming the management of New Zealand’s rural sector. Santos ahead Santos, Ltd, increased its revenue 54.2 per cent to $44.1M in the March quarter compared with the previous corresponding period, and 5.8 per cent in the December quarter. But the degree of risk in the investment programme by Santos. Ltd would have to be

carefully honed because of Government policies, said the chairman, Mr Alex Carmichael, at the annual meeting in Adelaide.

However, Santos would continue to extend into new areas and expand its exploration beyond the sAust2ooM programme already announced. Bunker surcharge The Australian and New Zealand/Eastem Shipping Conference will raise the bunker surcharge to Australia to sAustls.B3 per revenue ton from sAustls.l4, and that to New Zealand to $U523.69 per revenue ton from $U522.60. Effective dates will be around May 14 for ships to East and South Australia, May 20 to New Zealand and May 21 to West Australia, based on current shipping schedules. GATT complaint Japan has formally complained to the world trade body GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), that the European Economic Community’s decision to double import duties on the latest laser-equipped record players was unfair and would damage world trade. Aust. CPI The latest Australian Consumer Price Index figures indicated the underlying rate of inflation was falling and not simply a result of the exclusion of health charges, according to money market economists. They added that Australia's inflation rate for the year to the end of June could drop to about 5 per cent after the 0.4 percentage point fall in the index for the March quarter. When combined with last week’s favourable money supply figures, the general outlook was for lower inflation and interest rates during 1984 compared with last year, thev said.

Forum Line loss

The Pacific Forum Line will finish the financial year with a $6.45M loss, a result that is better than early forecasts according to chairman, Mr Harry Julian. A $10.7M loss had been expected but performance had been lifted by route changes. The New Zealand Government will underwrite half of the loss and Mr Julian said he had heard unofficially that the European Economic Community would provide ?4.59M toward operations.