Marac's 23pc lift boosts Pyne Gould

Brian Jolliffe

Pyne Gould Corp has posted a record profit thanks largely to a strong result from finance division Marac.

PGC owns Marac Finance, Perpetual Trust and has a controlling stake in listed rural services company Pyne Gould Guinness (PGG).

Marac's net profit was up 23 per cent - from $18.8 million to $23.1 million.

Managing director Brian Jolliffe said yesterday the record growth was across all parts of its business - including vehicle finance, commercial finance and property.

PGG contributed $10.7 million to the PGC result - down from a contribution of $11.5 million.

The PGG result was affected by a decrease in one-off gains on property sales in 2005 (compared with 2004).

Jolliffe said based on profits from ongoing operations the result was actually up by 4 per cent.

PGG has plans to merge with its largest rural services rival, Wrightson, later this year.

The merger agreement will give PGC and Rural Portfolio Investments collective ownership of 52 per cent of PGG Wrightson.

Chairman Sam Maling said announcements about the progress of the merger, including dates for shareholder meetings, were likely to be made in the next week.

He was confident that Commerce Commission approval for the deal was also likely soon.

"We've got a head of steam on here and we hope the commission keeps up with us."

Looking forward, there was no reason why PGC's record profit could not be maintained.

"We believe we can hold that and remain cautiously optimistic that we can continue to grow the business," Maling said.

PGC has declared a final dividend of 11c a share plus a special dividend of 1c from the sale of PGG properties.

That takes the total dividend for the year to 19c - more than double the 8.5c declared in 2002.