Down Slightly
pp. 73-74 · Read in the full issue
B.P. (South Sea) Profits Are Down Slightly
rE annual report of Messrs. Burns Philp (S.S.) Ltd. for the year ended January 31, 1940, with the com parative figures, discloses the following:
The directors report that trading con ditions in the Islands have been diffi cult, owing to low copra prices and a scarcity of shipping for copra. The Mexican market, the only one available at present, is restricted and uncertain.
Control by Islands governments of im ports, commodity prices and exchange, limits the earning capacity of the com pany, the directors state, and they expect that these conditions will prevail for the period of the war.
Sister Mavis Simmonds, of Adelaide, S.A., has joined the staff of the Method ist Mission’s school for girls in Suva, Fiji.
Mr. Frank Clune, a well-known Aus tralian author, is at present visiting Papua and New Guinea to gather material for another book.
1938. 1939. 1940. £ £ £ Net profit 65,145 51,232 49,353 Dividend, p.c 6»/4 61/4 6V4 To reserve 10,000 5,000 — To staff retirement .. 5,000 — — Carried forward .. 9,621 8,978 11,456 Depreciation 33,693 23,048 23,567 Reserve fund 115,000 125,000 130,000 Creditors 46,089 48,347 55,708 Cash in hand 60,700 62,356 65,714 Properties, shipping and investments 541,227 578,789 642,642 Merchandise 178,561 127,830 98,803 Debtors 180,220 193,450 165,005
Rev. D. E. Ure. accompanied by his wife and family, returned to Papua by the last “Macdhui” after spending fur lough in Western Australia. He is in charge of the London Missionary Society’s station at Metoreia, near Port Moresby.
Sir Maynard and Lady Hedstrom re turned to Suva, Fiji, during the first week in April by the “Monterey” from New Zealand, where Sir Maynard spent six weeks’ holiday recuperating from an
operation.
Rev. William Anderson, Presbyterian missionary at Hog Harbour, Santo, New Hebrides, is now in Australia on leave, after a visit to New Zealand. He went to the Condominium from Scotland, and has been an active mission worker for 42 years.
Mr. O. B. Hart, general manager of Bulolo Gold Dredging Co., Ltd., in New Guinea, left the Territory in March and is now in America spending six months’ furlough. During his absence, Mr. F. W.
R. Godden will supervise the Co.’s opera tions.