Hellaby bottom line down 10 per cent

Investment company Hellaby Holdings has reported a drop in profits of almost 10 per cent for the half-year to December 31.

Hellaby - which owns stakes in Hannahs, Number 1 Shoe Warehouse and Hush Puppy chains of shoe stores - had already warned the markets that profits would be down.

The company issued a warning in October saying its June 2006 full-year result could be up to 15 per cent below the previous year's $19.9 million.

But, last month, the management said trading and profitability in the second quarter in most divisions including retail was "significantly ahead of the first quarter and ahead of that anticipated when the earlier profit announcement was made".

Hellaby managing director David Houldsworth said that if the better trading conditions continued for the rest of the year, the group's full-year result was likely to be just 5 to 10 per cent below last year's.

Hellaby directors have approved a fully imputed dividend of 15c a share compared with last year's 19c. The dividend is payable on April 28.

The company said this would allow time to introduce the dividend re-investment plan and give shareholders time to elect whether they wish to participate.

Shares closed at $4.65 yesterday, down 35c.