Business and Development

Times Are Hard But Island

Companies Had A Good Year

Despite rising wages bills and eavier overheads, some of the slands’ big companies have chalked p increased profits for the last trad ig year.

Hie W. R. Carpenter group in Fiji lade a net profit of $1,779,000 while tie profit for the company’s South 'acific group, which includes Fiji as /ell as Tonga and Western Samoa, nded the year with a record profit f $3,084,800. The parent group, V. R. Carpenter Holdings, head uartered in Sydney, painted a less osy picture, however, because of the ailure of Mainline Corporation which ould cut its profit of $8,201,000 $8,112,000 in 72/73) to $6,212,000.

Burns Philp (SS) Co Ltd was atisfied with its profit of $1,217,396 $1,019,778 in 72/73) which was ichieved in the face of Fiji Govern nent restrictions on car imports and ontrol of profit margins, import estrictions in Western Samoa and ailure to acquire a suitable site for a nain store in Tonga’s capital, Nukua ofa, to replace the one destroyed by ire in 1970.

What did help Burns Philp were ugh produce prices, steady tourist evenue and more spending by the ustomers although sales and profit ;rowth were below expectations.

Trading in American Samoa was ;ood, the company reported. The ter itory had a prosperous local eco lomy. That picture, however, has >een somewhat tarnished of late hrough the four-month-plus drought vhich has closed the big fish can leries and thrown 1,260 employees )ut of work.

Burns Philp declared a final lividend of 73 per cent, making a 15 >er cent payout for the year.

The exodus of expatriates from J apua New Guinea affected the narket but that cast no shadows in he Steamships Trading Company’s >oardroom from whence came the lews that the net profit had risen by 16.3 per cent over the previous /ear’s —sl,l2l,99B compared with 5768,425.

The final dividend of 5.5 per cent irought the year’s payout to 10 per

cent. It was 8 per cent for 1972/73.

These are also golden times for Emperor Mines Ltd, controllers of the gold mine and associated industries at Vatukoula in Fiji. A few years ago, when the price of gold was pegged, Vatukoula had forgotten what a profit was.

For the year ended June 30, Emperor Mines earned an operating profit of $1,419,000 compared with $863,000 the previous year and that despite sharply increasing costs parti cularly for fuel oil used for generat ing power.

It’s fashionable these days for air lines to lose money, but Polynesian Airlines, of Western Samoa, made an operating profit of $6,210. The total profit, however, was $83,997 as settlement of a lawsuit removed the company’s liability for DC4 rental payments.

The value of Carpenters to Island economies was underlined by Mr Lyle Cupit, managing director of the South Pacific group. He pointed out that Carpenters, in 1973/74, injected $18.5 million into Fiji through local purchases; paid $6,460,000 in wages to its 3,858 employees in Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa and paid $6,630,000 in local taxes, Qn , he credit side of the ba i ance shee , , he turnover was $65 534 600 , an increase of 17.8 per cent Qn 1972/73. , . . . ' , Other injections Carpenters plan for Fiji’s economy include a new $3 million office block, shopping arcade an d car P a rk to be built on the Suva site of Morris Hedstroms old wooden building which was pulled down about 15 years ago, and a ship repair yard a t Walu Bay, Suva.