N.Z. Light Leathers output changed

Press, 19 April 1979, Page 14

N.Z. Light Leathers output changed

New Zealand Light Leathers, Ltd, reports an audited loss of $616,193 for the 15 months to December 31, but the company has expanded its range of leathers and reorganised its management. Referring to the result, the chairman (Mr E. J. Hazlett) said that it was disappointing, “particularly after the good performance of the last two years.”

“The company is now producing and successfully marketing finished leather. It has been well received, and we can sell our production at present levels. “We plan to increase the quantity to lessen reliance on crust leather, and diversification into contract wet blue tanning is under way. “The general manager (Mr L. M. Yates) and I have visited new developing markets in the Far East where the leather industry has expanded enormously during the last two or three years to create a strong demand for all leather materials,” Mr Hazlett says.

Mr Hazlett recalled that Mr L. C. Ryan, when chairman of the company, had sounded a note of warning in his report last year, and the company had taken urgent measures to protect itself pending a rise in the price of crust leather when its market had not responded to the increased cost of raw material. “A managing director had been appointed, unfashionable and lower grade stock had been disposed of, production had been reduced, and the company had completed its research into production of finished leather, and demonstrated its ability to market it successfully,” said Mr Hazlett. The company’s land, buildings, and plant at Washdyke

have been revalued, showing a substantial increase since the assets were bought, and it is the board’s intention to bring an appropriate portion of this into the accounts for the year ending December 1979, Mr Hazlett says.