COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 768, 17 March 1910, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES.

No transactions were recorded yesterday, and the market was quiet. National Mortgage, buyers £3; Wellington Meat fcx■port, £2 12s. 6d. paid, sellers £2 165.; Wellington Woollen, ordinary, buyers £3 25,; Westport Coal, buyers £6 2s. 6d., sellers £6 55.; Leyland-O'Bricn Timber, sellers £1 55.; Sharland's preference, buyers- £1 25.; Tar anaki, Petroleum, buyers Bs., sellers 9s. od.; Ward and Co; Brewery shares,- sellers £5. The Stock Exchange will be closed to-day.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN MARINE INSUIt- ■. . A.NCK.

The report for last year of the British ind Foreign Marine Insurance Company states that the underwriting account for 908 now closed has resulted in a proiit 01 842.596. The interest account for the year 909 is £59,958. This combined result, with •he balance of £101,39.4 brought forward, nakes a credit balance of £203,947, and no nterim dividend having been paid an July ast the' directors now. propose-'to pay a lividend of lfis. per sfcare, free of incomeax, this being equivalent to 22J; percent, or the year.. There will remayi: £143,235 o carry forward. The premiums for last rear amounted to £357.590 and the claims settled to £92,772; leaving a net balance, ifter deducting expenses, of- £235,000 at erelit of underwriting account. ; ■THE BANK OP FRANCE. At the annual meeting'of shareholders of ,he Bank.of Franco, held in Farm on January 29, the governor of the bank, it. jeorges Pallain, in dealing with the operaions of the institution in 1909 said the jank had profited by j'the general revival >f business, nearly all its branches liavng dono better than in 1908. 'ih e iraount of operations on which a. pi out vas obtained was £037,915,128, while, busiless tor the Treasury, and consequently vithout profit for the bank, totalled E456.345.972. During the year the cold reserve at one time stood* at £148,548,000, the richest point over attained. The. average lote. circulation..was 012, an insrease of £5,059,388 over 1908. Bills, discounted numbered- 21,524,972, with a total •alue of £493,464,912 and having an average ,-alue of just under £23. As in previous rears, nearly half the bills discounted in were below £4. The rato of dis:ount remained ' at 3 per cent, throughout she year, whereas the .average rate was i.lO per cent, in London, 3.11 per cent, m 3russels, 3.22 per cent, in Berne, 3.93 per lent, in Berlin, and 4 per cent, in Vienna, during the last twelve years the Bank ol ?rance's rato of discount has always been ower and less fluctuating than elsewhere. Phe gross profits amounted to £2,502,691, ind the net profit for reserve and dividend vas £1,353,985, enabling the: payment (after ilacing £218,552 to reserve) of a dividend it the rate of £5 12s. per share. " ■ IMPORT MAKKKTS. There is nothing of importance' to relord; business keeps steady and .staple ines meet with the usual demand, -trade n the City is still QUiet compared with ,he country districts. . Ourrants.-A new measure has been in.roduced into the -Greek Chamber with a fiew to mitigating the troubles arising 'rom over-production. The new measure alows the Privileged Society to raise a loan if half a million sterling to c9mpensiitc 'ultivators who took up their vines. Iho lprooting is to bo voluntary, but the society is bound, to compensate, and the oan will be secured on the dues on dried ■urrants which will stand- at cium irnehme per lOQO Venetian pounds weight, nstead of seven, as hitherto. The cror >f 1907 was estimated at 150,000 tons, and ho annual consumption of _ the woildts •stimated at betweeu 120,000 and 125.00 C ; on c Hence the anxiety of Greek currant jrowers, who . almost P° SS "? M ? . rrn'irri acairist overproduction. In lSui ,he oxport was estimated at 106,500 Phe Privileged Society guarantees t-0 huy 'rom growers the lowest quantities at 11 irarhme per 10C0 pounds, the medium al ■urraut growers, for it must ho l'cinem iered that the company is not allowed tc ixport the currants. which it buys at thu ninimum price in their original form l'hey l can only be sold locally to wins makers and distillers, or exported in a linuid state, either as wine, alcohol, 01 syrup or pulped in a manner which make: hem unfit for eating purposes, and lr ione of these forms do currants in nor nal circumstances give even half of trn ><iuivalcnt of what the company has paic 'or them. The set-off consists in the pay nent to the company of 7 drachmc pel OCOlb. of dry currants produced-say vbout 11a. per ton at present rato of ex 'Telf—The Colombo circular of the East *rn Export Company, dated February 19 states that supplies would certainly b< Oiort for some weeks ahead, as. from al. iistricta drought reports were gloomy tendon cables' had also reported .a, strons icinaud and firm markets especially foi ;ommon grades. The total. offerings t< late were stated to bo 11,545,7521b,, againsi 10 946,1201b. to the eamo date last year Shipments to Australia and New Zealanc from January 1 are given at 2,500,0001b. ls 'against 2,815,3101b. last year. Figure: lublishcd by the Hoard of Trade indicate hat the consumption of tea in Great Hri lain during 1909 increased very greatly, ai iutv was paid on no less than 283.500,C001b. itrainst J'5.500,0001b. in 1908. Iu the cas( if the United States also a, large advanci in consumption is recorded, the gain foi the ten months ended October being II ner cent, over the corresponding term it 1908,' When net Imports were 71,254,6841b. Mildura I'ruit—Latest information fron Mildura is to the effect that rains fel Llicre last Friday and Saturday, whicl ,vill tend to sensibly reduce the output Mr. H. A. V. Kac, secretary of the Dricc Fruits' Association, stated that he liac been notified from the district that it wai impossible so far to tell the amount ol the damage done. It was feared that f »ood deal of, fruit had been split by tlx rain. Sultanas and lexias would be th(

most aitocted. Several samples of fruit had come to hand. Some of the sultanas appeared to bo larger than those of last year, but the colour was not so satisfactory. Currants wete better in size and colour, but were not so well stemmed. l'.ico.-Tlio "New Yorlt Commercial" in a recent issue dealt at some-length on the healthful properties of rice. In this connection that journal wrote:—"The etTect ofa rice diet on the Japanese and Chinese is reflected in their great cnersy and endurance. They are people of strong nerves, equable temper, and wonderful physical vigour. They have energy without irritation, and perseverance without periodic collapse. Eice possesses healing and curative properties to a greater degree than any other cereal, owing chieily to its digestibility and nervc-bnilding qualities. Itice diet is known to be of the greatest conceivable assistance to nature." 1 ' . NOTES: Khodesia, like the Hand, manaEcd to create a fresh record in its gold output for the past year, but, also like the Hand, it did not make so much progress as in 1908. The total production of £2,624.000, in 1909 was an increase on the nrevious best in 1908 of nearly £100,000; but. on the other hand, 1908 gained as compared with 1907 nearly £350.000.

Commercial failures in the United States during the year 1909 were 12,924 in number, with defaulted liabilities* amounting to £30,920,693. This is a much more satisfactory exhibit than was provided by cither of the two precedinc years, comparing with 15,690 failures in 1908, with an indebtedness of £<4,463,137; and while the 11,725 insolvencies in 1907 were smaller in number, the cffcct is more than offset by the fact that in that year the liabilities amounted to £39,477,045. •

The report of the Thames and Mersey Marine Insurance Company, Ltd., for 1909 states that the underwriting account of the year 1908 is now closed, and the directors regret that, after deducting expenses and malting the nccessary provision for outstanding claims, it' has resulted in a loss of £35,338. The interest earned during the year 1909 was £35,647. The profit and loss account showed a, balance on December 31, 19D9, of £54,031, aad the. directors recommend the payment, free of income tax, of a final dividend of. 4s. per share, making Bs. per share for the year.

Tbe imports of coal into Germany in 1909 amounted to 12,198,000 tons, as contrasted with .11,661,000 ton? in the previous year, or an increase of 537,000 tons. On the other hand, the exports of coal were 23,350,000 tons, as against 21.190,000 toss in 1908, being an advance of 2,160,000 tons. The total consumption of coal in Germany amounted to 137,814,000 tons, as compared with 139,091,000 tons in 1908, thus showing a, diminution of 1,277,000 tons.

The first report of the International Agricultural Institute formed /on the initiative of the King of, Italy has been published in Koine, and, as might be expected, shows that the work of the institute is as yet of altogether too inchoative a nature to l>e productive of statistics indubitably beneficial to commorce. As sowing and harvest time differ according to geographical situation, the institute divides the countries of the earth into three zonesnorthern, central, and southern—and publishes, as the result of telegraphic inquiries, statistics as to the areas now under wheat in the last-named zone. Building an estimate upon this, it sets .down the result of the coming wheat crop in. Argentina at 42,785.000cwt„ in Australia at 22,317,000cwt., in Cilo 5,400,000cwt., in Peru WO.OOOcwt.. and in Uruguay 2,610,000cwt. Advance intormation of this sort, when systematically perfected, will, no doubt, be much appreciated. . , Customs revenue collected at Wellington yesterday amounted to £1082 19s. 2d. WELLINGTON MARKET; KEPOHT. Messrs. Leary and Co., Ltd, Wellington, report wholesale prices ruling on the market:—Wheat, fowl 4s. Id. to 4s. 3d.; feed oats, 2s. 4d. to 2s. 7d.; dun oats, 2s. sd. to 2s. 7d.; seed oats, 2s. 6d. to 2s. Bd.; Algerian oats, 2s. 4d. to ■ 2s. 6d.; maize 3s. lOd. to 45.; crushed malt, 75.; fowl barley, 2s. 9d.; Capo barley seed, 35.; flour, New Zealand £10 15s. to £11 55., Australian £11 10s. to £12; peas, Prussian blue sa. 6d., split £17 10s.; bonedust. £5 155.; superphosphates, £5 to £5 55.; pollard, £5 6s. to £5 155.; bran, £4 to £4 10s.; pearl barley, 155.; basic slag, £4 10s.; chaff loatensheaf), £4 to £4 10s.; oatmeal,. £11 10s. to £12; potatoes, table £3 to £6 per ton; onions, 3s. to 4s. 6d. cwt.: molasses fodder, £5; bacon (factory), sides 63d., hauis 0d„ rolls 7id.; butter, prime bulk, 9d. Poultry: Hens, 3s.;' ducks, 3s. 6d. to 4s. fid. per pair; turkeys, gobblers. 16s. to 20s„ hens 10s. to 145.; fresh eggs, Is. 3d. to Is. 4d.; preserved eggs, Is. 2d. dozen;': cheese, 53d. per lb., loaf, 6id.; Akaroit machine-dressed coclisfpot, 6d. to 7d. per lb.; farmers' dressed cocksfoot, ,4d. to sd. per lb.; ryegrass, 3s. fid. to 4s. 6d. per bushel; Italian ryegrass, 3s. 6d. to 4s. bd. per bushel; white clover, 70s. to 755. per cwt. METAL iIAHKET. • By Telcgrrph—Press Association—Copyright. (Kec. March 16, ,10.30 p.m.) < London, March 16. Coppor.—Spot, £58 6s. 3d.; three months, £59 18s. 9d. Electrolytic, £62. Tin.—Spot, £143 17s. 6d.; three months, £145 15s. . Lead, £13 ss.

WHEAT. By Association—OonvTieot. London, March 16. A Sonth Australian wheat cargo sold at 395.; Victorian, 38s. 7Jd. SILVER. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright London, March 15. Silver.—Bar silver is quoted at 23 11-16 d.. per ounce standard. AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ' ZEALAND MORTGAGE COMPANY. By Teleerai)tt-Press Association-Copyright. London, March IS. The Australian and New Zealand Mort* gage Company's shares are at 100. The rise is due to the company building up Us debenture fund. LONDON "WOOL SALES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright London, March 15. The wool sales have been postponed ow? ing to fog.

The Bank of New Zealand has received from its London branch the following cable advice, dated, March 15:-Current prices for South Island farmers' lots, Canterbury style: Inferior merino, common 60-C4's quality, llld. to 12(1.: superior merino, super, 6C-64'b ouality, 13d. to 14d.; half or quarter-bred, 56's quality, 131 d. to WJd.; coarse crossbred prices are lower, par at 5 per cent.

Messrs. -Levin and Co., Ltd., have received cable advice from London that the following: clips, shipped by them, have been sold in London at Hie sales now current, the priccs named being the average of the fleece wool of each clip:—Paranui, Foxton. lOd.; KICK, Ohariu, Usd.» W in circlc over J, Porirua, lljd.; DHR (conjoined), Masterton, 101 d.; Patunu, Martinborough, 10 13-lfid.; J A over C, Nelson, 10 13-16 d.; Fernlands, iiideford, 10 13-16 d.; Willowbank, Martertoii, 10 13-16 d.; Richmond Brook, Kelson, 12id.; W M'L, Martinborough, 12Jd.; Kawakawa, Martinborough, 103 d.; N, Nelson, 10 7-16 d.; NMK, Masterton, lid.; WITS, Otaki, lid.; H Bros/Bentwater, Masterton, lid.; RDM, llasterton, lCd.; Hinekura, Martinborough, llEd.; Cross Keys, Mastcrton llfld.; Eewanai, Masterton 113 d.: Gil, Featherston, 13id.; Melton, Pukehinau, 9 11-16 d.; Rocky Hill, Gladstone, 9 15-16 d.; 88/Fernglen, Masterton, 10Jd.; Khoituku, Masterton, IOJd.; XAL, Masterton, 10Jd.; SHR'Mt. Baker. Masterton, 9£d.; J and AW, Masterton. 9Rd.; Pukekaka, Moawhango, 10gd.; Marakau. Wanganui, 98d.; Glenmorven, Marton. lOgd.; Otauiri, Marton, 112 d.; Mapu. Marton, lCd.; H 'Bros./ Tane, Pahiatua, lOd. .