Pacific Commerce and Produce

Wants Support

For Fiji Loans

Fiji plans to raise an internal loan £1,750,000 in 1961. The Govem nt, through the Acting Financial iretary, Mr. Harry Ritchie, has >ealed to local business organisa is to give more support to local ns than they have done in the past. fITH several major works pro grammes coming up, including £2,500,000 Suva dock scheme, Government needs money badly, /elopment works will, to some ex t, put a brake on mounting unem yment, and give the government a athing space to look round for able ways of keeping gainfully Moyed the increasing numbers ling on to the labour market each r. 7M has urged more local invest it in Fiji, and has suggested that Australian corporations that have le big profits in the Colony over years, should be prepared to igh some of that money back for good of Fiji.. ut since the troubles of December, 9, and the prolonged sugar dis ‘ of 1960, investors have been y of making any positive move sr to set up the secondary in ries urgently needed, or to put icy into primary industries, such :ocoa, coffee, etc. (One exception lis has been the interest of Morris strom Ltd. in developing cocoa), iji needs the money the new loan bring and to encourage investors, Government had reduced the mum subscription from £5O to >. be loan will be raised late in June arly in July.

Strength of Burns

Philp Empire

[E balance-sheet for the year ended March 31 has been issued lurns Philp & Co. Ltd., of Sydney lich is the central arch of a very 5 structure now covering Islands ng, Islands planting, Islands ship

, Australian retail distribution,

a score of allied interests. ie profit is £930,623, which is •3,449 less than last year—but h provides ample funds wh^re

with to maintain the usual 10 per cent, dividend.

There was a little dullness of trading in some of the fields covered by BP’s but that may not have caused the slight fall in profits. Only a small proportion of income now comes from Head Office trading—much is from the dividends of subsidiaries., There have been many internal ad justments—for example, the profit in cludes a sum of £187,000 written back from reserves.

It is impossible, in the circum stances, to analyse the big company’s operations. All we know is that they are so extensive that they affect trade and commerce generally throughout the South Pacific Islands.

A bad BP year inevitably is reflected badly in the Islands. Some features of this balance-sheet:

Provision for shipping replacement

has gone up from £lOO,OOO to <£250,000. The directors say, again, that shipping now is unprofitable; but as this form of transportation is an integral part of many of their opera tions, the fleet must be maintained.

The volume of merchandising again has increased.

Reserves now are just under £4 millions. The Co.’s total assets are now just over £22 millions. Shares, loans and Government securities held total nearly £ll millions; invest ment in subsidiaries is close to £4 millions.

BP (South Sea) Ltd.—Fiji Co.

With a Lot of Cash The profits of Burns Philp (South Sea) Co. Ltd., in the year ended January 31, were down by about £16,000, to £146,863 (about equal to the 1958-9 profit). That was a good record, considering the lower copra prices and the long disturbance of the sugar industry in 1960.

With £103,759 brought forward from 1960, there was £250,623 in the P/L Account—which allowed the Directors to recommend the usual 10 per cent, dividend, put £50,000 into reserve and carry forward £100,623—as pretty a picture as may be found among balance sheets anywhere.

It is 41 years since this section of the Burns Philp empire was registered in Fiji; and now its issued capital of

£1,000,000 is more than equalled by reserves of £1,314,000, plus the P/L balance. The Co. nowadays has far more cash saved up than it needs for its trading operations; but there are only limited opportunities for sound invest ments among Fiji enterprises; so no less than £1,090,000 is invested in “shares in other companies, Government loans, etc”. ‘Cash on hand and in banks” totals £214,000.

The Directors are Messrs. H. Maurice Scott (of Fiji, chairman), James Burns, Joseph Mitchell and P. T. W. Black (of the Sydney headquarters staff), G. R.

Simpson, R. C. Kerkham and J. Y.

Stewart (top Suva executives).

At present this Co. has 10 branches in Fiji, three in Tonga, two in Samoa and one each in Norfolk Island and Niue.

Trade Commissioner on Tour

Australia’s Trade Commissioner for the Pacific, Mr. K. W. Davies, whose head quarters are in Auckland, is to make one of his periodical tours through the Central Pacific Islands in May and early June.

Mr. Davies will be at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva, on May 8-9. and May 20-29; in Nukualofa, Tonga, from May 11 to 20; at the Rainmaker Hotel, Pago Pago Eastern Samoa, on May 28; at the Casino Hotel, Apia, Western Samoa, from May 29 to June 5; and at Lautoka and Nadi, Fiji, on June 7-8.

A Trade Mission, organised by the same Australian Department, will leave Sydney for New Caledonia and Fiji early in August.

New P-NG Loan Opened

A new Papua-New Guinea Loan opened on April 20. Premium Securities, to be known as Series T 2, will have a currency of about seven years, maturing July 1, 1968. Interest will be payable half yearly, at the rate of five per cent, until June, 1963, 5V2 per cent, from then until June, 1965, and 5% per cent, until maturity. Interest will be regarded as a tax free capital accretion.

New Savings Certificates will also be issued shortly. They will bear interest at five per cent, for three years and then at 5% per cent, for the 4th and sth year.

The loan that was expected to raise £550,000 in the 1960-61 financial year totalled only £387,000 to early April. An additional £50.000 from the Copra Fund was then being negotiated with the Copra Industry Stabilisation Board and if successful would help fill the gap.

More Taxation Deductions

in Dutch NG

The 33-1/3 per cent, deduction from profits before taxation, which hitherto applied only to mining companies in Netherlands New Guinea, has been ex tended to other commercial companies (a) the conducting of their business re quiries larger capital investments; (b) they are prone to more than normal risks; or (c) the nature of the business fits into the economic policy of the country.

Tobacco Co. Defers

Dividend

Associated Tobacco Manufacturers (Holdings) Ltd., which owns as a sub sidiary the New Guinea Tobacco Co., New Guinea, has deferred payment of interim dividend.

At the annual meeting in December, an eight per cent, dividend was forecast.

Volume of sales for the 12 months to December 31, 1960, showed a slight falling off but results for the full year are expected to be about the same as last year.

Directors state that plans for expansion of the company’s New Guinea subsidiary are well advanced.

PI Mines Pilot Plant

Pays Dividends

Paid-up capital in Pacific Island Mines Ltd. is now £49.145, and the latest report issued by directors indicates that invest ment could be an interesting speculation.

Others apparently feel so also; sales of the £5 fully paid up ordinaries have been bringing £5/15/-.

The company now has a pilot plant operating and this has already proved its worth. Good samples of heavy and wire gold have been recovered from what was regarded previously (after more con ventional panning methods of prospecting), as worthless overburden. Values of 15/per cubic yard have been obtained in this overburden.

Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd.

BGD Ltd. estimates that there will be a profit of $220,000 Canadian, from operations in New Guinea and Australia for the nine months ending February 28.

This takes into account tax at $70,000 and depreciation $157,800.

In addition to this, there will be dividends from Commonwealth-New Guinea Timbers totalling s26B.ooo—in spite of the fact that Australia’s credit squeeze slowed down sales of plywood there.

Will Make Pearls

A joint venture by Australian and Japanese interests will begin a cultured pearl industry at Goode Island near Thursday Island.

The interested companies are Aus tralasian Pearlers Pty. Ltd. and Union Pearl Company of Japan.

By 1964 the new joint company expects to be exporting £lOO,OOO worth of pearls to Japan annually.

No Restrictions of

Plywood and Timber

It was announced in Canberra on April 20 that the Australian Government would not refer the question of temporary pro tection for the timber and plywood industries to the Tariff Board.

Australian timber and plywood industries had asked for this.

The problems of the industries, said the Minister for Trade who was making the announcement, were not the result of inadequate tariff protection.

There have been three Tariff Board inquiries into the timber and plywood industries in the last six years—the last of them after the removal of import controls in April, i 960. This last inquiry had found that increased protection against imported timber and plywood was not warranted, and the Australian Gov ernment accepted the finding.

Slight Fall in

Dylup Profits

The profit of Dylup Plantations Ltd., copra and cocoa planters, NG, shows a slight fall of £3,416 to £49,904 for the year ended January 31. Result is after tax £9,145 (up £1,645) and depreciation £13.576 (up £340).

Copra price adjustment for the year ended December 31 is estimated at £ll,OOO.

The company’s interest in Island Finance Co. has been sold, because directors con sidered the investment “not in the best interests of shareholders”.

Sydney Firm Offers

Take-over of Korfena

It was announced in May that Land mark Ltd., of Sydney had made an offer to acquire all the shares in Korfena Plantations (NG) Ltd. (16 miles from Goroka, Eastern Highlands) and that 90 per cent, of Korfena shareholders had agreed.

The offer was for a one-for-one share exchange: or shareholders could take half their shareholding in 10 per cent, debentures, redeemable in three years.

Mr. lan Downs, member of P-NG Legislative Council, is manager of Korfena hnd a director. Mr. Stanley Eskell, an MLC of NSW, and chairman of South Pacific Post Ltd., Port Moresby, is also on the directorate.

In the announcement, Korfena is described as the ‘“biggest and best” coffee plantation in New Guinea.

Landmark Ltd. was floated last year on the Sydney stock exchange as a land sub-division company. Chairman is Mr.

A. E. Armstrong, MLC. of NSW. The market quotations for 5/- Landmark shares on the day previous to the announcement were 4/9. However, within recent months they have been down to 1/- under that.

Tl's Largest Pearling

Company Folds Up

Bowden Pearling Company, founded in 1887 (it was one of Australia’s pioneer pearling companies) went into voluntary liquidation early in May. It employed about 160 natives and 20 Europeans.

Mr. J. I. Dunwoodie, Bowden’s manager, said the present credit restrictions in Australia had forced the company’s liquidation. It was the biggest pearling firm operating from Thursday Island.

Its fleet of 17 luggers, now tied up at TI, has been offered for sale, leaving fewer than 30 luggers operating from the island.

Gloomy Outlook in

Western Samoa

On present indications, Western Samoa will face a serious economic recession during the remainder of 1961, affecting the main agricultural industries—cocoa, copra and bananas.

The Legislative Assembly. which interrupted its Budget Session because of the Plebiscite to May 16, has a strong economy-minded majority and is deter mined to cut all non-essential Govern ment expenditure, particularly develop ment items and set same aside until the financial position has materially improved.

The effects of the March hurricane on Samoan plantations have been disastrous, particularly on Savai’i.

The quarterly returns of the Bank of Western Samoa showing the position of aggregate reserves, aggregate advances and

aggregate deposits as at March 31, 1961 reveal a continuing drop in Reserve! which at £214,095 are at lowest level sine incorporation.