Speirs expects profits to be up by March

NZAX listed company Speirs Group expects a profit improvement by March next year. Executive chairman Nelson Speirs told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in Palmerston North yesterday that the company was expecting a challenging first half but that fortunes would get better by the end of the full year.

In the 2006 financial year, the Speirs Group generated a net after-tax profit of $842,000.

The group, which runs Speirs Finance and the fresh food producer and distributor Speirs Foods, said the finance division was well positioned to manage risks which had plagued similar companies recently.