SUGAR INDUSTRY

Southland Times, Issue 21073, 3 May 1930, Page 7

SUGAR INDUSTRY

COLONIAL COMPANY DIFFICULTY OF FINDING MARKET PROFITS FOR HALF YEAR. (United Press Assn.—By Telegraph—Copyright.) (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) Sydney, May 2. The report of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company Ltd. for the half-year ended March 31, discloses that the profits during that period amounted to £445,336. The board of directors proposes to pay a dividend of 20/- and a bonus of 5/- a share, which will absorb £365,625. The balance of £79,711 will be added to the balance of the profit and loss account as at September 30 last, bringing the total to £490,488, and from this sum the board will place £lOO,000 to the reserve fund. The chairman, Mr E. W. Knox, at a meeting of shareholders to-day, said that the company, like others, was compelled to accept lower profits, but there were investments of this company which fortunately were not affected by the fluctuations of the sugar market. He alluded io the increasing difficulty of finding a market for the output of sugar of British tropical countries, including Fiji, owing to the fact that surplus sugar in other countries was being sold at a price well below the bare cost of production. Nor was it true that the Colonial Sugar Company was making undue profits, which in fact were smaller than before the war. Actually more than onefifth of the profits went in taxes. He made passing reference to floods and a hurricane in Fiji and to damage to the plant and crops, and stated that the new refinery at Perth was just commencing work. _ Its cost had greatly exceeded the original estimate. The directors’ report stated that there was no evidence of increased world consumption of sugar, while the output next season would probably fall short of that of 1929. Both reports were adopted. Mr R. L. Faithful was re-elected a director, and Mr R. W. Gillespie was elected in place of Sir Norman Kater, who has resigned.