BURNS, PHILP PROFITS.

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 118, 21 May 1941, Page 4

BURNS, PHILP PROFITS.

Net profit of £235,656 was earned by Burns, Philp and Co., Ltd., for tbhe year ended March 31. Profits last year were £260,621. The directors state that working conditions throughout the year had been far from easy. The unsatisfactory condition of the copra market was reflected in a falling off in general merchandise trading in Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea. In other centres sales were well maintained, resulting in the aggregate volume for the year showing a moderate increase over the previous year's total. In view of the more or less unsatisfactory position prevailing throughout the Pacific, it was deemed advisable to refrain from seeking out fresh channels for expansion until the general outlook became clearer. The shipping position still continued to be difficult, the shortage of tonnage rendering it practically impossible for the available vessels of the fleet to fill all the demands of the several services the company was engaged in. A 10,000-ton up-to-date cargo vessel, built in Glasgow to the company's specifications under the supervision of the company's superintending engineer, was requisitioned on her completion in September last by the Imperial Government. The company's passenger and cargo motor vessel Bulolo ■is continuing to give useful service in assisting in the Empire's defence.