SSB makes play in hotel trade

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 31

SSB makes play in hotel trade

PA Wellington At Salmond Smith Biolab’s first annual meeting in Auckland yesterday the chairman, Mr David Ellis, announced a new investment in the hotel trade. SSB was recently formed by the merger of Salmond Industries, Ltd, pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturers and distributors, and Smith Biolab, .Ltd, who were importers, manufacturers, agents and made pharmaceutical and medical supplies. SSB had bought all the shares in Wellingtonbased Pacific Import Company, Ltd, for a consideration of cash and 80,000 ordinary shares issued at 250 c each, Mr Ellis said. Pacific Import supplied crockery and glassware to the New Zealand hospitality industry and had sales worth $3 million last financial year. The new purchase gave SSB a chance to take part in the rapid expansion of the hotel business, Mr Ellis said. “We anticipate a bright future for this new acquisition,” he said. In another new development SSB had now established a company in Australia to give it a corporate structure there, and increase sales. SSB was optimistic

about the food and fishing businesses, and was likely to increase its investment in those fields in the future. Higher production of canned meat-based products was planned, and new production equipment was about to be commissioned, Mr Ellis said. The United States and the Middle East were the main targets for those products. . Since the merger SSB had almost completed the amalgamation of the two existing head offices into one. All head office functions were now centralised in Auckland, and the company had been reconstructed into four groups — professional products, involving health and science categories, consumer products, mainly in the health care field, plastics and brushware and food processing. The first five months of trading since balance date were on course, and the company was 12 per cent ahead of sales last year, and was slightly ahead of budget.

SSB’s forward order position was strong and it was confident of a successful year, Mr Ellis said. It was expected that when the accounts for the first six months were available an interim dividend would be declared.