Good year doubles profit for Wrightson

Press, 5 October 1984, Page 25

Good year doubles profit for Wrightson

Wrightson N.M.A., Ltd, has recorded a profit of $12.8 million in the year to June 30, compared with $6.5 million the previous year. The result does not include earnings from meat or fish operations which are both under separate management.

From July 1, 1984, Wrightson Appliances has also operated independently of Wrightson N.M.A. whose activities are now focused solely on traditional stock and station business.

The managing director, Mr Alistair McLachlan, said the result reflected a particularly good season for pasture growth, a strong market for livestock, higher earnings from trading, an outstanding bloodstock result and unusually low cost increase due to the

wage/price freeze. Other divisions which performed extremely well were real estate and commercial auctions.

This year’s result also reflected improved returns from the Canterbury region following completion of the merger with the rural services division of N.Z. Farmers Co-operative Association of Canterbury, Ltd.

On the other hand, the collapse of the deer velvet market in Korea had resulted in a significant loss in this area of operations, demonstrating the risks involved in developing new exports, Mr McLachlan said.

“The prospects for the deer velvet appear slightly better for the coming year, but only for top quality antler,” he said.

Mr McLachlan said the previous year’s over-all result had been a disappointing one, and without a dramatic improvement in the latest year Wrightson N.M.A. would have been in no shape to assist in meeting the increasing demands for seasonal finance from farmer clients.

“Farmer advances are running some 25 per cent ahead of the previous year, and with only a modest increase in farming incomes in prospect, liquidity will continue to remain the farmer’s major problem. This will be our biggest challenge in the year ahead.

“We will also have a problem this year in holding our operational costs, in what is a highly staff-inten-sive and vehicle-intensive business.”