Napier RSA's profits death knell to rumours

ROGER MORONEY
After five years of operating at a loss the Napier RSA has posted a profit it hopes will end speculation it was at the point of collapse.
Chief Executive Officer Gary Davies said rumours suggesting the association was broke and in danger of going under had been going around for years.
However, the latest balance sheet would put an end to such dire predictions as the RSA had reported a $464,000 turnaround in profits.
The change in fortune was largely the result of a move which became a contentious one for some members, Mr Davies said.
After a major review of costs, which showed the major impediment to operating in the black was the cost of servicing loans, the association sold off a parcel of land it had used as members' parking.
The land now houses the Noel Leeming appliance store.
"A lot of members were not impressed by the sale but it gave us the springboard to reduce those financial costs," Mr Davies said, adding the main saving was in reducing its mortgage.
The association had also embarked on putting more variety into its entertainment to get more people through the doors. He said auditors told him the association had achieved a commercial rarity over the past couple of financial years by increasing revenue and decreasing costs.
The sole impediment to maintaining a good flow of members and guests through the doors, the anti-smoking legislation, was being addressed by the planned construction of an outdoors "lounge" which would feature its own lighting, heating and entertainment.
No date had been set for work to begin.
The turnaround in finances was one of two significant changes for the association this year.
After years of going under the name of the Returned Services Association it was now officially the Returned and Services Association.
The change added all service personnel, from the theatres of Malaya, Korea and Vietnam through to peacekeeping forces in the former Yugoslavia, Bougainville and Sudan, to the veterans of WW1 and WW2 who had been the core of the association.