Times Colonist from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada • 10

FINANCE 21 DECEMBER, 1982 A-1 0 TIMES-COLONIST Recession snags Atlantic Big Four YOUR MONEY PATRICK FELLOWS managed to remain fairly strong through the traumas that have affected its three main competitors. Its sister company, Nickerson, has had things rougher. Like Fishery Products and the Lake Group, Nickerson went into high gear in the late 1970s as the fishing industry boomed after the declaration of Canada's 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Expansion and plant acquisitions were followed by debt and uncertainty. Nickerson is now said to owe the banks $100 million and is reported to be falling behind paying off loans from the Nova Scotia government.

With the announcement last week that National Sea was buying the lucrative lobster operations of Nickerson, rumors again began to fly of a merger in the works. The situation is slightly different in Newfoundland, where the performance of Fishery Products has drawn the ire of Fisheries Minister Jim Morgan. He ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) Over-expansion, a history of damaging competition and government pressure may force some of Atlantic Canada's fiercest free-enterprisers, the Big Four fishing companies, into mergers.

Industry sources and government spokesmen said Monday the four companies, including the Lake Group Ltd. and Fishery Products both of St. John's, H. B. Nickerson and Sons Ltd.

of North Sydney, N.S., and National Sea Products Ltd. of Halifax are considering options to stave off bankruptcy. Nickerson and National Sea have been closely linked since 1978, when brothers Gerry and Harold Nickerson bought controlling interest in National Sea. Although Nickerson controlled National, most of the fishing effort and processing was still done separately. National Sea, more diversified than its competitors in Canada's fourth-largest export industry, has said Monday the company will be summoned to a meeting of fisheries ministers from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the federal minister, Pierre De Bane, to offer its plans to stay afloat.

Morgan had said earlier he could see no point speculating about a possible merger between Fishery Products and Lake Group but in Monday's interview, he seemed to change his tune. "I don't disagree with the Lake Group and Fishery Products merging their marketing efforts. I've always said there was destructive competition there," he said, without ruling out the possibility of an eventual corporate merger. Morgan is angry at Fishery Products and its chairman, Denis Monroe. He says Monroe has done a poor job of managing one of Newfoundland's most important businesses.

Fishery Products is obviously looking hard for alternatives to bankruptcy. It has announced closure of its plant at Burin, on the southeast coast, and last week drew the ire of townspeople at St. Lawrence by attempting to remove essential equipment from its idle plant in that Burin Peninsula town. The Lake Group has already sacrified some pride by going cap-in-hand to the federal fisheries task force asking for money, but it has had some success. A federal loan guarantee worth $13 million was extended until March 31, 1983, forestalling a crisis when the current guarantee expires Wednesday.

The extension represents a reprieve of sorts until the task force under Michael Kirby and a special federal committee can come up with recommendations to restructure the industry. One thing has been made abundantly clear by both De Bane and Morgan. De Bane said recently "there will be no corporate welfare program." Adds Morgan: "the time of the big bail-outs is dead and gone." If you have been dissatisfied with the tax Expires FISHERMEN! A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY Ocean front Recreation Lots For Sale A beautiful 108-lot Co-Op Resort Campground. 5 miles past Sooke at Otter Point. Where the big salmon are caught! Boat launching, fully serviced grassy lots with paved roads.

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A. It's an interesting performer, all right. The common stock was as low as $1.65 this year, allowing for a subsequent split into A and shares, which now sell in the region of $8. The company is a holding and investment concern whose main operating subsidiary is Memorial Gardens Canada which operates the country's largest association of garden cemeteries and crematoria. Fluctuations in the economy, the company said in its 1981 annual report, tend not to affect corporate operations.

Burials and cemeteries are not things people like to dwell on, but they are essential and inevitable and therefore have to treated on a businesslike basis. And, let's face it, the population is growing and so is the percentage of over-65s. Arbor Capital caters to two segments of the market the one that buys its services at the time of need and the one that opens a "pre-need" account. The latter accounts for about two-thirds of the company's business and it's wide open because any one who is alive is a potential customer. Anyway the results tell the story.

The fast interim report on hand, for the nine months ended July 31, 1982, shows an 81 per cent jump in net profit to 60 cents a share and a 31 per cent rise in total income to $24.8 million over the similar 1981 period. The more serious the business, the more euphemisms it gives rise to puns, too. Just short of indelicacy, some Bay Streeters know Arbor Capital Resources as the stock that rose from the grave. As an investment it's been good for the living. Q.

I would like to recall an answer you gave to a reader whose company "ceases to take deductions" for the pension plan after an employee has 35 vears of service. He asked hat he could contribute to an RRSP the year after deductions ceased. You said a maximum of $5,500 based on no one making further contributions to the plan on the employee's behalf. In the case of my company, contributions cease from the employee but continue from the employer. Then the OKERS' NON-SM LIFE INSURANCE HARBORD COMPANY 609 YATES 388-5533 DAVID BILLINGHAM Cedric Steele Associates Ltd.

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Victoria Branch 766 Fort St. Victoria, British Columbia 1' jT V8W 1H2 382-2754 Cars depressing production hopes RRSP limit is $3,500. CM. A. We made an assumption, hich wasn't warranted from the question, that all contributions to the pension plan would cease.

It would depend on the type of pension plan. However, if any amount was paid or credited to the plan on behalf of the employer in respect of that year, the employee's combined deductions for pension plan and RRSP are limited to 20 per cent of earned income to a limit of $3,500. Otherwise, the 20 per cent rule applies with a maximum of The not-yet-retired person who is 65 or over and receiving government pensions can transfer unrestricted amounts of pension money to an RRSP without current tax liability. Q. I am 63 and was widowed in February 1982 with an income of about $10,000 from husband's pension plus spouse's allowance, $770 in interest and a death benefit of $1,257, making total income for the year of $12,027.

1 have not paid any tax this year. Next May my husband's pension ill cease, reducing my income to $228 a month. Will I be able to spread this year's tax liability into 1983? D.J. A. Take pencil and paper and figure out all the deductions you will be entitled to this year (personal, investment, pension) and substract them from total income.

That leaves taxable income. If this number were no more than $1,911 for 1982, as an Ontario resident you would pay no tax on it. You could shrink your taxable income toward this figure if you were able to put some pension money into an RRSP. There's no limit to the amount you can transfer but bear in mind that from a company pension the first $1,000 is tax-free. You've got up to next March 1 to make a deductible contribution for 1982.

The funds could be withdrawn from the tax-shelter in 1983 when your other income will drop. Questions on money and invest ment problems may be sent to Your Money, co Times-Colonist. Box 300. Victoria, B.C. Y8W 2N4.

Not every question can be answ ered but all ill be considered. Personal replies can not be guaranteed. encouraging in those figures," said Hank Wightman of Statistics Canada's shipments, inventories and orders section. "The month-to-month change in the motor vehicle sector is what made things look good in August, slip in September and really fall in October," he said. Even without that fluctuation, the picture "wouldn't be good but it wouldn't be as bad." Adjusted for seasonal variations, the latest figures show the value of orders fell 3.9 per cent during October to $1 1.59 billion.

Shipments fell 1.7 per cent to $1 1.68 billion, and the backlog of unfilled orders dropped 0.6 per cent to $17.25 billion. Meanwhile; the value of inventory ow ned in October as $32,766 billion, 0.8 per cent lower than in September. However, the ratio of inventory to shipments rose sharply for the second consecutive month to 2:23 to one. up from 2:1 1 to one in September and 2:0 1 to one in August. While the ratio is high it is still below the 2:28 to one level reached in April.

Segal, one of the Western Canadian "acquisitors" profiled by author Peter Newman in his Canadian Establishment scries, was previously owner of the Fields department store chain in B.C. which grew out of a family clothing store in Vancouver. In 1976. he acquired controlling interest in the 156 store Zeller's chain, although both companies were, in turn, taken over by Hudson's Bay Co. two years later.

Levy, who first became associated with Segal in the Fields operation, retired as president and chief executive officer of Zeller's in April. He said he was looking toward further growth for Robinson's despite the hard times currently facing the retail trade. come effective Jan. 1. 1983.

Chevron Canada Resources is a newly incorporated Canadian company and will be able to participate in hydrocarbon production from federal lands in ways not open to Chevron Standard, a foreign-incorporated company, Henderson said. li your uci or service pro ortii what IS OTTAWA (CP) Chances of an economic turnaround in the manufacturing sector this year dimmed at the outset of the fourth quarter, figures released Monday by Statistics Canada indicate. Largely' because of the depressed auto sector, manufacturers' orders, shipments and the backlog of unfilled orders all fell during October, the agency said. Those key indicators of the health of manufacturers had improved in August, raising hopes the recession in that sector had hit bottom, but they slipped in September and again in October. Manufacturers continued to shed inventories during October, but the demand for their products remained so weak that the closely-watched ratio of inventory to shipments rose for the second consecutive month.

When the ratio is high and rising, as it is a present, manufacturers are forced to cut production, and in turn employment, to trim inventories. On the other hand, when the ratio is low and faliing. manufacturers are forced to increase production, and eventually to increase employment. "I can't say there's anything very you Note rates subject to change without notice. population of only 14.

Each day there's information on world events, community news, products and services. Whether our readers, your customers, want to relax or stimulate their minds, they will find what they are looking for in today's daily newspaper. Shouldn't your ad be there too? To find out more about the believability of print call your newspaper representative today and get all the facts. U.UU..I i means business for you it in writing Vancouver pair buy stores from British put Have you ever wondered why the expression "I'll believe it, when I see it in writing" is being heard more often today? In this ever changing, fast paced world of ours people need time to think, time to digest information, time to make a decision. Because of HAMILTON (CP) Two Vancouver businessmen have bought the nine-store chain of G.

W. Robinson Ltd. department stores in southern Ontario from their British owner for an undisclosed price. At a new conference Monday the new owners. Joseph Segal and John Levy, said the stores ill continue to operate under the Robinson's name with the same management and personnel.

The previous owner was Owen Owen Ltd. of Liverpool. England, which purchased the original Robinson's store in 1951 and oversaw its expansion to a chain of stores in Burlington, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Kitchener and Waterloo. this it's becoming more apparent that people today need to read as well as watch and listen.

Today's daily newspaper gives people that time. It gives them all the facts and can be referred to again and again for making decisions. As a matter of fact it is reassuring to note that over the past ten years Canadian daily newspaper circulation has increased 15 in comparison to our growing II. IIHIJI.I III I it Chevron transfer completed CALGARY (CP) Plans to transfer the assets and operations of Chevron Standard Ltd. to a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Chevron Canada Resources have been completed, says Chevron Standard president G. G. L. Henderson. Henderson said the transfer will be.