7

H.—44

Combined Companies. Year Sales. Gross Profit. Percentage of Gross £ £ Profit on Sales. 1914 ... ... ... ... 1,569,490 305,630 19-47 1918 ... ... ... ... 3,027,278 742,727 24"50 1919 ... ... ... ... 3,028,747 729,061 2407 Turning to a consideration of net profits, in relation to sales, a summary of the figures for the nine companies gives the following results : — y ear Sales. Net Profit. Percentage of Net £ £ Profit on Sales. 1914 ... ... ... ... 1,569,490 85,854 55 1918 ... ... ... ... 3,027,278 255,637 B'7 1919 ... ... ... ... 3,028,747 242,721 7"9 Attention must be drawn, however, to the fact that the results of the individual companies show considerable divergence, and in one or two instances very high profits have been made in the years 1918 and 1919. This matter will be discussed in a later section of this report. The following table shows the figures for each individual company : —

It should be explained that the net profits shown in the foregoing statement differ slightly from the figures ascertained for the purposes of determining the ratio of net profit to gross capital. As compared with gross capital (which included loan capital), the net profits were adjusted to cover interest paid on such borrowed capital. Those adjustments were, of course, not made when it was desired to ascertain the ratio of net profit to sales. With reference to the fact that, the figures given above relate to sales of both locally manufactured and imported goods, it has been found that no very reliable information can be gathered to show the relative importance of imports and locally manufactured woollen goods. The difficulty arises from the fact that, no unit of production can be adopted for comparative purposes. Values as between imported and locally manufactured goods differ greatly. No unit of millproduction could be adopted, and finally no detailed and complete information is available either in regard to quantities imported or manufactured locally. There, is, however, no evidence to show that the goods manufactured in the Dominion yield a greater gross or net profit than those described as imported lines. Imports to New Zealand are classified under a number of headings, and even goods which consist wholly of wool are in many instances grouped, in the import, statistics, with goods of a very different nature. It has, however, been found from investigation of the figures of one large company that, a little more than half of the sales (in value) were sales of locally produced goods. This company, however, is one which by manufacturing clothing largely adds to the value of its production. It is evident that in normal times the proportion of sales of imported goods would be much higher. This no doubt applies to all companies doing business on these lines. The following table shows for the several companies the net profits and percentages on gross capital for the years 1914, 1918, and 1919: —

Company. Year. Sales. . Net Profit. Percentage of Net Profit on Sales. A B C D E 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1.914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 1914 1918 1919 £ 43,272 103,074 111,423 26,265 51,610 62,291 239,725 449,578 449,509 943,863 1,748,010 1,720,613 76,080 159,285 152,064 47,933 122,091 132,314 144,413 289,912 298,386 9,934 17,420 28,212 38,005 86,298 80,987 £ 3,702 8,472 14,795 2,722 7,192 ■ 9,716 14,712 45,207 48,717 42,306 133,691 97,327 6,450 15,608 13,621 5,174 18,912 22,994 10,495 21,913 23,153 1,738* 2,254 3,302 2,031 12,388 9,096 8-59 8-22 13-28 10-37 13-94 15-60 6-13 10-05 10-83 4-48 7-65 5-60 8-47 9-79 8-95 10-80 15-49 17-37 7-34 7-56 7-76 17-50* 13-00 15-60 5-34 14-35 11-23 F G H * Loss.