COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1686, 28 February 1913, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVKSTMF.NT SHAKES. . . / The, transactions recorded, 'yesterday were.—'Wellington Oas, £9 15s. prtid, at £16, and tavo tales of preference at £1 each. Tho quotations were as undsr:— ~ •-.?. 'Buyers. . Sellers. . . ' ' .£ i>. d. £ s. d. 'National .En-nlc- ' • 5.19 0 Equii.iblo Building — 9 12 6 N.z. Loan and Mercantile 0 9 6 — N.Z. ahd P.iver Pl.-jto — 119 0 .Well.'Trust and lioan ,7 .1 -o';.. .74.3 0;Chrlftcb'U'ch (sna ' '712 6' m-plor.Gas (£10);... ' ' M'-J 0 • Napier Gas (£5) —■ . 10 " J) Well. Giuj (£10) 16 .0.0 17 0/0 Well. Gas (pref.V 019. 9. .4 0 3 Ohristehiu-ch Meat ■}. 15 1® -® Meat Export (525. 6d.),....:. 2 17 0 3 0 0 N.Z: Shipping '• W'lJ 0 Union Steam-.. .'-Z.B 9 Well. Woollen- (ord.) .:.... 3 12 .0 — ■ Well. Woollen (prof.) ' — 2 16 9 llilturangl Coal ■ —, 1 '® W-. 6 Taupiri Coal ■ -.s ;■ 1 'S '5 Westport Coal.. ...» - 1 7 9 Leyland-O'Bricn i 1 6 -0 — Golden Bay C-qmcnt — ■■■; ,1 " S N.Z. Portland' Cement ... , —- - 0 19 6 Sharland'a ordinary....... ' 1 1.0 - BANK OP AUSTEAIASIA'S CAPITAL/ Mr, CMi.'Hamilton presided at n. Wet-, in? of tlio Bank of AnstralaGin.. held recently. In Loudon, for tho purpose of conHrintnß a resolution, Increasing the capital by .GiIKJ.OOO, divided into 1(i,0C3 t.cw-, shares of £<0' each. , The chairman said thatifor 29 yoara they had issued no.'fresh capital, and during that time the trade of Australasia hud Incrcaeed. by 430 per . cent., while tho capital rcsorvo of' Australasian, banks had increased hy only. 53 per cent. . At the present moment money , was very tight in .'Australasia,-this stringency heinu . caused by the: increased, expcndlturo of ", all ' the States .and'of tho. community. Notwithstanding thl.l heavy expenditure, thcwi was an'inßc.tliblo ' demand for advances. Part of this was the' purpose of speculation, with .which 'deiuaiul tho companies 'would iuivo nothing whatever to do: A larger 'portion.of tnd demand, however, was for tho purpose of increasing the production- of the country. At present the banka v.'ere unwilling to moot, tills .demand fully, and it was evident that moro capital was required. The market, price of tho shares before the issuo wes announced was rtither over.llß. .The new shares wero to bc.issuid at 100, .which would be a substantial bonus equal to about £10 per old share, or 10 per cent. If the new-abates were not sold by the shareholders they -would yield £6 lGsi per cent., free of jnome tax, or £7 J«. . per'.cent, not free'-of :income tux. , The resolution waa carried ■ unmiimonsiy. ' -ONION BASIC OF AUBTHALU. . . Dotails of tho report of the Union Ennli of Australia. came to liond by the lastmail. The report states that the accounts to August 31, after provision.- for doubtful debts and coiit.ingenc.ieF, show a net amount of profits of £198,348, incluslvo of £42,766' brought forward. ' From tills the directors have mn<le tho followirtg appropriation. viz.£so,oco as an addition to tlio bank's reserve fund, which is thereby Increased from £1,400,000 to £1,450,003. ■ From tho. balance. remaining (£148,348) .the directors havo resolved upon tho declaration of a. dividend ?X tile rate of -10 per cent. per annum, equal to £1 ss. per share, and c- bonus of 2 per cent., c(pual :to 10s. .per share, the dividend and boniis togethejbeing at the rate of 14 per cent, per annum, and amounting, to £1 15s. per share, absorbing £t05,0C0, and leaving £43,348 1o lie carried forward, l'rogrcits and prospects In Australia'and. Rev,- Zealand render it desirable, in the opinion of the director", ■that'they should have power to make fresh Issues of capital within dellned limits when circumstances appear to them tq warrant Buch isshes. Por this purpose .it is •necessary to increase the autliorised capital of tho btmlc, olid resolutions to clTect this, and also the consciincnt alteration in tlio number of shares authorised-to bo held on the colonial registers, will be sub.mittod at the extraordinary general meeting. The directors also desire to aslt for, wider scope in investing that , portion 1 of the bank's roservo fund which is .held ill the nnm-os of trustees, Inasmuch a? at present 'such investments are restricted by articles .1111 ,'e.iul 121 of the bank's articles of association, to inscribed or registered stocks ; of or guaranteed by. the. British. Government. ' ' ■" QUEENSLAND - 31EAT CO. The, report of tho Queensland Meat Com •. pany. which \yas 'adopted at- tho 'suninnl, meeting held in Brisbane on February 18, stated .that traue-actions for the year ended November 30, 1912, showed a credit balance of £42.843 l?j=t., to which was to bo added the undivided profit, brought forward for November 30, 1911. 'of £5!£6 13s. lPd.,' the total available £48,030 Ss. 10d.-. I'rom this the directors proposed to liny' a (Uvinntijl' (No. 10) of 8 nor cent, and n bonus of 4 per ccnt., which, with dividend duty, would absorb £27,EC0 14s. The su:u of £10.934 13s. was transferred to the reserve fund, making the total sunt at ercdit of the reserve fund. .tIIO.OCO. and leaving I the sum of £9526 18s. lOd. to be carried [ forward. : . - - ■ ' ■ COMPANY miIRTEUEI). According to the list of .companies registered published in the "Mercantile Gazette," the business of V. X. It . Meadou-s rvnd Co. was registered as a. private company on February. 26 with a capital of £2CfO. divided into 20C0 shares of £1 each. Sub. fcribci's: Wellinitoiy-A. Tj. Wi.-k,?. 10: F. X. 11. Jtco'l'i"" 5 , IE7O and' ICO paid up: K. l!, ' Kos?, 10; .1. F. B. 10.: Objctr, i —To carry on tho tiuotncra of dolry pro- -* merchants and commission agents

heretofore carried on by F. I\". K. Meadows at Wellington. Customs duties eollccted at the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £3063 ss. 4d. NEW ZEALAND WOOL STATISTICS. (By Telegraph.—Prcea Association.) - Chrlstchurch, I-'cbruary 27 In the eourEo of his quarterly address to the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, the president said the wool sales have resulted in good priccs. sliowiup a considerably larser aggregate sum than that of the year 1911-12. In this connection, tlio following ngurea, for wliich I am indebted to one .ol our merchants and which ore approximately correct, will be of interest: New Zealand wool statistics: Total number of bales exported from July" 1, 1911, to Juno 20, 1912, 517,320; estimated quantity sold Ui local mills, 20,M0; estimated production for the year ended June 30. 1912, say. 557,320; approximate value, say, £6,500,000 estimated exports for year ending June -3D, 1913, say, 510,C00 baleo; estimated quantity sold to local mills, 20,1X10 bales; estimated total production for year ending June 30, say, 530,000 bales; approximate value, say, .£7,500,000; number of bales offered in New Zealand from July 1, 1911, to June 30, 1912, 238,859; number of . bales offered in New Zealand from July 1, 1912, to January 30, 1913, 221,736. Number of sales held up to January 31, 1913, 15; number of sales to be held after January 31, 7; total' sales for this 6eason, 22. LONDON MARKETS. Tho New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, liavo received the following cablegram from their London house.' under date February 26;— Wheat: We have sold an Australian parcel at 3Ea. c.i.f. Tho market is quiet, -but 6t«ady,. owing to heavy arrival, and tho outlook is uncertain. Sheepskins: Tlio market is unchanged. ', AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. TelacraDh—Press Association—Cocyrlxht (Rcc. 27, 9.50 p.m.) . Sydney, February 27. Wheat,-3s. 7d. to 3s. Bid.; flour, £& 15s. per ton; bran, £5 10s.; pollard, £5 15s.i oats, 'i'asuianian Sparrowbills 2a. 10d., New Zealand Algerian 2s. 9d. to 2s. 10d„ Giants 2s. lid. to 3s„ A 1 grade Gartons 35., B grade frs..;id.; maize, 4s. to 4s. 3d.; potatoes, local £2 to . £4, Tasmanian £7 10s. to £8 ICa.; onions, Victorian, 95.; butter, selected 965.,: prime 90s. to 925.; cheese, 63d.; bacon, Bid. Adelaide, February 27. Wheat. 3s. 6id. to 36. 7d.; flour, £8 to £6 55.; bran and pollard, Is. 2d.; oats, 2s. 4d. '. HIDES. " " Melbourne, February 27. At the hide Falcs there were moderate supplies. Kips wero 3-Bd. lower, and other classes were easier. . ' . TALLOW SAI(ES. - London, February 26. At. the tallow sales 13E0 casks were offered and 784, sold. Priccs woro unchanged./ SILVER.. London, February 26. ' Ear - silver -is quoted, at. 27 <13-16 d. per ounce standard. ' ' . MINING NEWS, WELLINGTON SHARE JIARKET.' Th'ero were no transactions' in minint shares yesterday. The quotations wero as under:— ' , ; - - \ . Buyers. . Sellera, £ 6. d. £ s. d. lOon. Goldflelds : — 0 14 3 ICuiranui Oaledoniaa ...... ■ — -.0 1 '0 ; Jtay Queen. V:,.;. ..; — 0 0 6 Murray Creek'(old) ■— .''O .ob Murray Creek (new) ...„. —' *0 6. 6 N.Z. Crown. !.;.... 0 0 8 , New Sylvia '.. 0.0 8 '.0. 011 Ross' Reconstructed 0 5 6 0 5 9 Saxon .'. (i 0 5 — Tairua Mines — 0 0 ? Ta-lisman ' :.... I 116 9 '•} 17. 6 Waihi ; ...113 3 .-1.13.9 Waihi Grand Junction ... — }',} S Waihi-Paeroa .... ' 1.1} '0 Waiotahi .' - ,-0 111 Waitangl : - ® Watchman ...i,— 0 2 6 Swastika , ...J™...* •».»- » ♦Preaiinm.. ~ STOCK EXCHANGE. (By'Telegraph.—PrcEa'Association.) ; Auckland, February, 27. - At the 1 morning call on- 'Change tho following sale was . reported:—Waahi, :£1 U3 ' M !-: , , ,Clirlstphurcli, February li'. Sales . reported :— ). t . . Mutual Benefit of CBnterbury, £ll_2s. 6d. Wellington Gan (£9.10 a. paid), £15 ss.' - I 1 Union Steam- (rights), lte. 4 ' ' . 1 Wa,ilii Grand Junction, £l';ls.. .6d;;- ' - ,-f" •'.■■' -' Duncdin, Fcbruary-27; Tho following coles were, made ;on tlio Stock Exchange to-day :-Milburn Llmo and Cement, £1 18s. 3d. • Tho following tale was , reported: —iN .L. Drug, £2 10a. , :