ICI notices demand fall

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 23

ICI notices demand fall

PA Wellington ICI New Zealand, Ltd, has felt a decline in real demand over the first quarter of its 1985-86 year, the chairman, Mr John Eddey, told shareholders at the annual meeting in Wellington.

• This is a trend the company first noted in the latter months of the 198485 year but, because of price movement, there has been little effect on the nominal level of external sales.

Mr Eddey said the year ahead is one of uncer-. tainty, and he predicted the company ''will face difficult trading conditions. However, the technical and financial strengths of the company place it in a sound position to cope with the economic uncertainties that lie ahead, he said.

He pointed to some major projects the company has initiated, or is planning to initiate if possible, in the current year.

These include the purchase of ICI Fiji from ICI Australia, and the acquisition of a manufacturing operation in Fiji by ICI Fiji. There is a joint venture to exploit seaweed, using exclusively new processing technology developed by the DSIR and the DFC. Another joint venture to extract durene from the heavy gasoline streams at the Motonui gas-to-gaso-line plant is still subject to discussions with the Government over stream availability.

Answering questions from shareholders, Mr Eddey said the performance in 1984-85 was quite creditable, given the significant cost and competitive pressures the company faced.

He could offer no light on the company’s low share price, but did say the price /earnings ratio of 5 (on a share price of 180 c) “does seem to be low”.