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Tuesday, August 13, 2013
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
Trust turns loss into profit BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Two years ago the Ashburton Trust’s books showed a loss of $1.7 million; last year it made a profit of $592,144. In those two years it has gone from a business that was in danger of closing down to one that trust board chair Alister Lilley described as “in a solid position, a good space.” There was more to do but the
trust was now moving forward and was able to reinvest in its businesses, particularly the Hotel Ashburton and look at new opportunities while still maintaining a good level of community donations, he said. This year’s 9 per cent increase in profitability ($541,735 last year, including $500,000 from the sale of the Mt Somers Tavern), was achieved in spite of three significant factors that impacted
on the bottom line – a nationwide drop in the conference and function market, an increase of more than 100 per cent in insurance cover and a sharp increase in the price of electricity. While trust chief executive Giles Beal said the year to March 31 had not yielded as strong a result as he would have like, factors that impacted on this were beyond the trust’s control. The loss of conference and
accommodation income last year was worth about $100,000 and insurance premiums rose, postearthquake from $128,000 to $400,000, he said. “Three years ago we were losing money. We’re on a five year journey, we’re in year three, we’re in a solid position and this can only get stronger. “Three or four years ago we had a $1.7 million loss; now we’re on the right side of the ledger and
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we’re in a strong position.” Looking ahead, Mr Beal said there were still opportunities to introduce new efficiencies. All of our establishments are trading well and we now have the economy of scale to take on additional business without extra cost.” The trust’s annual meeting will be held at 5pm tonight at the Hotel Ashburton. FULL STORY
The SPCA is appalled over nine young dogs being discarded on FULL STORY P5 a Rakaia road
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