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Record profit for Williams & Kettle

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Monday 24th September 2001

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Yet another rural services company has delivered a strong rise in profit with Williams & Kettle (NZSE: WKL) announcing a 69% improvement in its bottom-line.

For the year ended July W&K had an after tax surplus of $7.046 million compared to last year's $4.176 million, with sales rising to $173.19 million from $154.31 million.

The company reports that this is the third consecutive year in which its profit has risen by more than 65% on the previous year, with an after tax return on average shareholders' funds of 17% compared with 11% last year.

Chairman John Bayly says the strong rural sector and an increase in market share helped the final result, with the farm merchandise, livestock and wool divisions performing particularly well.

Mr Bayly says the company's expansion into non-traditional North Island markets is progressing well with the strategic initiatives taken in recent years yielding positive results, and further growth initiatives being considered.

Although W&K says strong trading conditions are continuing into the new financial year, the recent events in the US have added considerable uncertainty to the global outlook.

The company has declared an 11 cent dividend bring the total year's payout to 20 cents per share compared with 15 cents the previous year.

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