Pacer profit $19.6M

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 12

Pacer profit $19.6M

PA Wellington Pacer Kerridge Corporation has posted a total profit of $19,612,000 for the 15 months ended June 30. This compares with a profit of $11,852,000 for the previous period for the year to March 31, 1987. Turnover for the latest period was $105,446,000 ($28,638,000 previously). An income tax benefit of $1,180,000 compared with a tax payment of $415,000 in the previous period. Profit after the tax adjustment for the latest period was $28,366,000 ($12,165,000 previously). Minority interest losses of $5,319,000 ($276,000) and losses on shares of associated retained companies of

$2,915,000 ($1,247,000) brought the profit before extraordinary items to $20,132,000 ($10,642,000). Extraordinary items of $520,000 ($1,210,000 previously) brought the bottomline profit announced. Pacer Kerridge directors said they would recommend a considerably increased final dividend of 20.6 per cent, or 10.3 cps (last year scps), increasing the total dividend for 1988 to 19cps (last year 7.scps). Of the final dividend, 31.45 per cent will be tax free. Mr David Phillips, the chairman of Pacer Kerridge, confirmed yesterday that shareholders who had agreed over the past week to sell

him their shares in Pacer for 600 c each, may if they wished, buy those shares back from him at the same price up to and including the day they are scheduled to receive their 1988 Pacer Kerridge annual report. Mr Phillips said the purpose of his offer to buy the shares was to ensure that small shareholders were not scared into selling into an artificially low market, which he considered was created by some sharebrokers. With the public release of the record profit, Mr Phillips said his offer was now withdrawn. The total shares he had bought were 20,526 which represented less than 0.12 per cent of the company.