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Pyne Gould Corporation is reporting a 6 per cent increase in annual net profit after tax to $30.6 million, boosted by growth at fully owned finance company Marac.
Pyne Gould is a holding company, with Marac and Perpetual Trust as 100 per cent-owned subsidiaries, while it also owns 22 per cent of associate rural services business PGG Wrightson.
The corporation is comparing its net profit for the year to June 30 with the previous year's net operating profit of $29 million.
For that 12 months the bottom line result of $66.3m included a non-operating abnormal gain of $37.3m from the merger of Pyne Gould Guinness with Wrightson to form PGG Wrightson.
The latest year's result includes a 10 per cent increase in net profit for Marac to $26.5 million.
Perpetual Trust's net profit rose 39 per cent to $3.6m, and PGG Wrightson contributed $5.8m, compared with $6.7m the previous year.
A fully imputed final dividend of 12 cents per share is to be paid, adding to the interim dividend of 9cps, bringing the annual dividend to 21cps, compared with 20cps last year.
During the past year Marac recorded a 14 per cent growth in finance assets to $1.3 billion, while Perpetual Trust had an 8 per cent growth in revenue to $15.5m, PGC said.
For Marac, the decision to invest in regional expansion in recent years had delivered further results in the current year.
In an increasingly competitive environment growth was maintained, with overall plant and equipment receivables increasing 16 per cent, with more than 50 per cent of all new business coming from outside of the Auckland region.
The property business grew over 20 per cent to top $300m, while in motor vehicle financing a continuing move toward franchise and late model used vehicle dealers saw both business volumes and loan size increase during the second half of the financial year.
More than 60 per cent of the business written during that period was sourced from franchise dealers as the new vehicle market has remained strong, PGC said.
The quality of Marac's finance receivables continued to be strong, with an impaired asset charge against profit of $500,000 compared with $1.7m the previous year.
During the year Marac Finance continued to enjoy support from retail investors, with high reinvestment rates and a good inflow of funds from new investors at competitive rates, PGC said.
PGC shares were unchanged at $4.10 around noon today, having ranged between $3.90 and $4.90 in the past year.
- NZPA
