COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 781, 2 April 1910, Page 13

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

. INVESTMENT SHAKES. ' J ,l ™ 011 S J£ am Bhares "danced hands at £1 lZs. wore strong inquiries for £ew Zealand and River Plate, Westport Coal,. Bank of New Zealand, and LeylandO'Bnea Timber. National Bank, buyera £6 4s. r Bank of New Zealand, buyera £9 \l • JM m E tou Investment, sellers Us. 4d. Foildmg Gas, buyers £1 Is. 6d. ; Weli!? et w i?- a \ £6 15a ' paid - Eellera *« 12s. 6d.: .Wellington Meat Export, £2 12s 6d paid, sellers £2 lSs. 6d.; New Zealand pins, buyers £7 17s. 6d.; Union Steam buyera £1 Us. 9d.; Wellington Woollen! buyers £3.25.; Westport Coal, buyers £6 fa. 6d., sellers £6 65.; Lcyland-O'Bricn Timber, buyers £1 4a. Sd!, seller"i≤l 5s M." New Zealand Consolidated Dental,. eeUero £1 4s. Gd.; New Zealand Papor ■ Mills. buyers £1 25.; Sharland'e preference, buyor?i n s,; ar °n»l'i Petroleum, buyers Bs., sellers 33. 3d, MONET MABKET. Tho realisation and shipment of the products of the Dominion have (says yesterday s "N.Z .Trade Review") gone fonvard briskly, and the record of the March quarter promises, when complete, to oclips" all previous records as regards the value of the exports, that left our shores in the three months. The March quarter is always the heaviest export quarter of the year, representing,; usually, fully 40 per cent, of tho' whole year's outnut, and exceeding.the imports of tho same , period by some millions sterling. On the present occasion, so far as can be i,y :n. terim returns, which aro Bnbjcct to revision, tho value of tho quarter's exports may_ reach some £8,500,000.. .The imports on the other hand will probably not; exceed thoso of the corresponding quarter of last year,. say £4.000.000, • thns leaving a .margin of eome £4,500,000 of.: exports in , excess of imports. If the. above .forecast' Is verified by the final returns, the result must certainly bo a substantial-strengthen-ing, of tho financial position of the Dominion. Money is in very good supply and in not very great demand.

NEW YORK -.LIFE INSTJBANOE CO. Summary of the annual report and bal-ance-sheet of the New, York Life Insurance Co.' will be found in another, column. It will bo noted that the new insurance paid iPmnnS™ 09 tot . aUed *e enormous sum of £30,009 an. incroaso over the preceding I year of ■ £1.368,067. Disbursements to poliovholdors during the year totalled .£10,683,288. The., flffures relatinc to this company's affairs are very Btrilring, and should ■ repayperusal. ~ . , MARINE COITPANIES IN 1909. ■: 1 Marino insurance businees in 1909, while showini; a turn for the hotter, was not so satisfactory as Would.have been the case had -rate-cutting been still further disconcontinued. A compilation made of the flguros of nine. leading .British companies discloses that tlyj total not premiums for the year 1909 amounted.to £2,506,685.. The •capital and dividends of the companies main the samo an at the close of 1908. .The interest received in the twelve months was £5700 less than in 1908. The dividends wore more than provided for by the interest re- . coived on the investments, and tho companieswero thus, notwithstanding losses on underwriting, able to pay their usual dividonds. The underwriting account for 1908 proved an unfortunate one for most of the companies; in fact, it is said *o i'e the most disastrous in the history of underwriting. Out of the nine companies only two were able to close th& account with a profit Taken together, the companies lost £65,736, on that year's business as compared with a. loss of £40,230 on the 1907 account. It will be seen, therefore

that after taking cordit for the intorert received, tie companies had to talis £48,6(4 out of post earnings in order u pay their dlrldenda. Aβ a remit of the continued losses on underwriting, premiums hare been raised, and the companies express. the hope that they will now ,be able to ehow better results. The premiums totalled £2,511,487, us compared with £2,322,773. in 190fl, and £2.539,148 in 1907. The expenses end first year's settlements last year were the lowcet for many years,: being only 31.29 per cent., against 44:57 per cent, in ISM, 42.23 por cent, in 1907, 41.99 per cent in 1906, and <B.SO i< r cent, in J905. The 1909 underwriting account, therefore, should show a much more favourable result than the two previous ycara, which resulted in losses of £65,736 and £40,230 respectively. At the meeting of the different companies the chairmen spoke hopefully of the future. An aJvam-6 of only 3 per cent, in the rate of premiums in 1908 would have been sufficient to havo turned a loss of £65,736 into a profit of about £4000. J SILYEII. By Teleeraph—Press Aesociation-OoprrirtS. London, March 31. Silver is quoted at 24 3-16 d. per ounce. FEOZEN MEAT MASKET. (Bγ TeleeraDh.-Frees Aasociatloe.l Chrjstchurch, April 1. The British-New Zealand Meat and Produce Company has received the followins cable message regarding the London frozen meat market:—Mutton and lamb market firm, with, good demand. Prime Canterbury, 48 to 641b., 4Jd.; 64 to 721b., 4Jd.; North Island, 4jd. and 4Jd. Lamb, Canterbury prime, up to 421b., sid.; Kurtii Jβland, 53d. Messrs. Dalgety and Company, Limited, report having received-the following cable message from their London house, under dute of March 31:—Frozen' meat: New Zealand and Australian lamb is in good deman with a firm market, whilst the market for Now Zealand mutton is firmer with an active demand. The market for New Zealand beef, for which there is a fair demand, is weaker. Present Quotations areas follows.—New Zealand prime ox best, fores 38d., do., hinds 4}d.; New Zealand prime crossbred lamb, Canterbury, heavy s}d., do., Canterbury, light 58d,, do., North Island, heavy s}d., do.. North Island, light 58d.; Now Zealand crossbred mutton, prime, Canterbury, heavy 4Jd., do., Canterbury, licht. 4/d., do.. North Island, heavy 4W., do.. North Inland, light 4JJd.j Australian, good average duality crossbred lamb, hoavy 5d., do., lieht- si: Australian prime crossbred mutton, heavy 33d., do., lieht 4d. .. GEAIN MAEKET. |. (By Teleeraph—Press Association.) Chrlstchurch, April 1. Business in the grain market has not been fully resumed after the holidays, and during the current, week only a limited quantity of wheat and oats changed hands. Only a small amount of business has boon done in wheat during the last few, weeks, owing,,in a large measure, to tho bulk of the grain being in a damaged condition.' malting shipping risky. Good wheat readily finds buyers at full quotations, but for inferior and eprouted the market is not keen/Offerings are not extensive, and tho majority of samples show unmistakablo signs,of weather, many being eo bad as to be unfit for milling or shipping purposes. • For this class as low as 3s. on ■ trucks at country stations has been ac- . cepted. For damaged wheat of primest quality prices range up to 3s. Id. and 3s. Bd. Oats continue firm, and all descriptions are quoted at an advance of one penny per bushel.