BANK OF NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1301, 2 December 1911, Page 5

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND

HALF-YEARLY MEETING* INTERIM DIVIDEND, 6 PER CENT. TDfES GOOD, BUT STBINGBNCT POSSIBLE. The half-yearly meeting of shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand was hold yesterday. There were present: Mr. Martin Kennedy (acting-chairman of directors), in the chair; Messrs. W. Milne, J. B. Reid, and J. M. Johnston, directors; Mr. W. Callender, general manager; Mr. B. M. Litchfield, chief auditor; and seventeen shareholders. Chairman's Address. The chairman, in his address to the shareholders, referred to tho death of Mr. VP. H. Quick in September last. Mr. Quick haying been one of the four Government representatives on the board, the vacancy had been filled hy the Government appointing Mr. J. M. Johnston, of Palmerston North. Mr. Kennedy also declared himself re-elected unopposed to the vacancy caused by his retirement from the board by effluxion of time. Profits Sustained. "Ton will be glad to learn," he went on to say, "that the half-year's profits have been well sustained, and compare favourably with those for corresponding periods of recent years. Having reason to anticipate that the second half of the J car will provo proportionately; good, w.s have declared an interim dividend of 6 per . cent, on all the shares of the tank. "During, tho year there has been a good demand for money, and this demand has been well responded to by the bonking institutions in tho Dominion. The following comparison of tho advance figures for the September quarters of 1911 and 1910 shows the increase for the twelve months: — Advances and Discounts. 1311. ISM. | Bank of New Zealand 8,285,639 6,966,691 Union Bank of Australia, Ltd. 3,540,831 3,222,958 Bank of New South Wales 3,111,353 2,516,493 Bank of Australasia 3,250,784 2,794,888 National Bank of N.Z., Ltd. 3,239,053 2,676,566

/ je21,«1,660 418,177,538 —an increaw of je3,25i,0C4. "It will bo observed from the foregoing figures that -wo have obtained a fair proportion of the increase; and this, in view of the keen competition for advance business, may be considered satisfactory. Liquid Assets in London. "Somo comment has recently boon mado on the position shown by this bank in the Government quarterly returns, in that tho assets in the Dominion, as shown, were less than the liabilities. ■ To any persons not familiar with banking finance, the inquiry would seem quite natural, and S3 every person in the Dominion is concerned in the affairs of tho Bank, it will perhaps not be out of place for me. to explain that, in view of the large amount of our deposit liability, it is essential to a policy of prudent and safe banking that a proper proportion of our assets be kept in a liquid form, and as this cannot b9 accomplished in the Dominion in a remunerative mamier, we find it advantageous to hold 6uch funds in London, where thoy are revenue-boar-ing, and whence'they can bo transferred expeditiously whenever they ' may be required. Good News. "I havo much, pleasure in statiag that, by a recent sale in Auckland, w© have disposed of tho largest of tho remaining Assets .Realisation Board properties, and that those left in-our hands now lepre--sent- onlv a little-moro"thair rhis will, I am sure, be satisfactory information for shareholders. I may mention that these assets, when the to° a I2GBO 000° nStitnte<l in i 895, amounted ! "You will be interested to hear that, owing to the considerable demand for extended banking facilities, wo have since f P"' 1 last opened, in various parts o] the Dominion, four new branches and six now agencies, and have converted nve agencies into daily branches, Trads and Commerce. "Bjwordiag the trade and commerce of the Dominion, the following fignres show thorelation onr imports bear to our exports over a period of five years:— Bxcmi Excen . EipOTta. Importg. axporti. importi. ffi sss ssi aasa 1310-11 19,912:655 IS,® Mio above figures are for the period ending September 30 in each year. As regards the commercial outlookTrade in the Dominion, which has been somewhat slow throughout the year, 1 am gM to say, shows considerable "revival. The exports for 1009-10, which W C^[ y h re ° ord - /°- r the Dominion, hi.l tKn L maintained for 1010-11, totil of £li to « etllar show a wrfa of J7K7 eiceS3 , over Imports of -£i,157,774, or equivalent to an !C3 578 ° f !Kai3 of Ad,578,887, or, if we take the laafc fch roe ' 910663 of exports over *1 averase t balance of j folr 7 tar < which mav he regarded aa very satisfactory. Stringency to be Expected, it, deoirabla, howwer, to tal] fi™? , "w increaa# in advances of ™ ,mn a , quarter millions for 1911 i over 1010, and to tho Errowth in i port iifpires for 1911 0 f BhouldTi^rg^cy^^' Prospeoti Good. parts of the Doming soason has not been m , s Taking tho Domhdon 1 TIC« Tow resu " « geneJly^V^ "Tho shcop return*, just imblislwrf mm K^- hui IT a #t«ie P rf i i resnlt ™ay be taken as the .°nte°iM of the subdivision of stations, and the more valuable porhons of such estatea being usS' m nofaoe the .great exnansion of daiiyinl in. the Dominion and the high level mintained. m prices of butter and ohecse ' t< s'- 11176 reasonable -11 a satisfaotory season, with fair prices for tho staple products of tho Dominion. ; Th « wool market, nhich, for' the past few months, has been somewhat" deprSed, is showing signs of revival—the prices SO i fa .r'. rea ' ls ®d a t tho cairrent London sales being a distinct advance on tho closing quotations of the previous series.; With the more settled stato of European affairs, there, would seem reasonable ground for anticipating generally improved trade conditions, and, as a consequence, possibly . a further advance in wool prices. In'that case, the , exports from the Dominion for the_year ending September 30 next would Probably equal, if not exceed, the averago of the lost thre& years. Coupled with tho easier position in the Australian Commonwealth, that will most likely follow upon tho recent satisfactory rainfall that has taken place thure, sucV an improvement would no doubt go far towards n>lieving tho appreKandod monetary stringency in Australasia next year. Phenomenal Progress. "Before sitting down, allow me tothant you Bincoroly for again electing mo aaopposed as one of your two representatives on tho board of tho bank- I accept it as a very hteh compliment indeed, especially having already completed a period of 33venteon years in that capacity. During that period, tho progress of tho bank has been truly phenomenal. For the first year, ending 1895. the balance-sheet showed a not profit, of .£37,358. The next vear ?ave u act profit of .£132,193,. with proirrcssion each siibscquout year, and the last' five years havo averaged upwards of .£351,000, and tho deposits.. which were in IS3S, £7fnjo2. hate stm» csi iscr«Md»s.i

and at March 31st last stood at JCIV.SB6,748. Truly it can bo said, tho progress of tho Dominion is also the progress of the bant. Congratulation. Dr. C. Prendorgast Knight ™. Mr. Kennedy on his re-cloction, and saiu ho was pleased to sco a shareholders' representative on tlio directorate at the head of tho institution. Mr. Kennedy acknowledged tho oormplimont paid him, and said ho regarded his ro-election as an evidence of tho shareholders' goodwill. Perhaps it might also bo takeu as an indication thnt the lino between the' shareholders' and tho Government's interest ill tlio bank would not b« so strongly drawn. Both interests were alike. It was true that tho interests wore not quite equal, but it must Ijfl rewomberod that tlio Government's shares were preference shares.