Fourfold Aurora lift

Press, 24 February 1987, Page 24

Fourfold Aurora lift

PA Auckland Property developer and investor, Aurora Group, Ltd, lifted tax-paid operating profit more than fourfold to $8,108,000 in the half year to December 31.

Provision for tax was $705,000, against $82,000 in the corresponding period a year ago. The latest result is arrived at after the inclusion of unrealised losses on foreign exchange

transactions, but does not include any unrealised gains from property revaluations. The 1986 first half included $3,623,000, which translated to a surplus of $5,174,000 for the six-month period. In the latest reporting period, share capital increased from $8,181,000 to $14,367,000 through a one-for-two bonus issue and the placement of five million shares to institu-

Shareholders’ funds increased from $91.2 million to $130.7 million. Interim dividend has been doubled from 2c to 4c a share (16 per cent), an effective 200 per cent increase on pre-bonus capital. The directors say the property portfolio will now be revalued annually.

The chairman, Mr Lloyd Brown, said the

marked improvement in performance reflected the changed nature of the company since the restructuring of the board and management

Mr Brown said that the shift in emphasis from a purely investment role to that of major developerinvestor provided flexibility to make the most of income from both development activity and commercial rentals.