COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1721, 11 April 1913, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. A sale of Wellington Woollen, ordi'narv, at £3 12s. 3d. was the only transaction recorded yesterday. The quotations were as under:— Buyers. Kellers. ■ ■£ s. d. X e d. Bank Now Zealand 11 7 6 — Equitable Building — 9 10 0 N.Z. lioan and Mercantile 0 10 0 ~ N.Z. and Hiver Plate — 2 0 6 Well. Trust and Lonn ... — 7 2 G Feildinjc Cias — J 0 0 N.Z. Insurance 5 0 0 — Meat Export (525. Cel.) ... — 3 0 n Mosgiel Woollen ~ 5 19 n Well. Woollen <ord.) 3 12 0 3 13 0 Taupiri Coal 13 6 1 3 10 Tariiurarautu Totara. — 2 5 0 Manning and 00. 3 18 0 N.Z. Con. Dental 10 6 — Sharland's ordinary 110 — N.Z. LOAN AND METtCANTILK. .■The "Financial Times" of March 3 elves the foMuwinE llllci'iiiation-.— Tho legal formalities relating to the reoreuiiis.'itiun or Ihe capital account <if -he ■New Zealand Lrjjii nutl .Ueivnntiie Apei'icv Company have been 'oinnlcl iml with (lie sanction given by Mr. Juetwc Nciillc u lew

days ago to the scheme set before him. Hitherto there lia-s been a Prior Lien Debenture debt of £2,350,0C0, a, Second Debenture debt of £510,000, and £405,CC0 of Third Debentures, together with the £135,0« lof naid-up ordinary capital, while the im■callcd liability on the latter issue amounted to no 'less tlnin £1,766,000. Such a. .state of all a lr.-; was, of eourso, intolerable, the heavy liability 011 the shares having renTt'' ',' m practically unmarketable. Under the seliemc which has now been agreed to there will be £I,OCO,CCO of I'rior Lien Debentures, £1,C00,C011 of Second Debentures, £1,000,000 of Preference stock, and it. similar amount of ordinary stock. In order to bring about these alterations it lias been nccessary to call up the greater part of the uncalled ordinary capital, and to enable holders of the shares to meet their liability a special cash bonus of 15s. per 10?. " share has been declared. A cablegram which has recently been received from the property announces that tho outlook is very encouraging just- now, as there has been an excellent rainfall, anil agricultural conditions in New Zealand are satisfactory. In this connection it should be mentioned that while the company does not itself engage directly in Agricultural operations, it lends money to those conectcd with grazing and farmin?, and is thereby indirectly interested in weather conditions. At the request of tho directors, Mr. Alfred Shepherd lias recently agreed _ to join tho board, and his long experience of Australasian land and mortgage business should be of great benefit to the concern. As the shareholders are aware, the prosperity of the undertaking has advanced considerably during recent years,_ though owing to the complicated condition of the capital account it lias been difficult to bring this home in tangible form to the proprietors. Now. however, that the further participation of certain, debenture holders in surplus profits lias been done away with it will be poss-ble to pay larger dividends than hitherto, and the general outlook may be regarded as decidedly encouraging. It has taken over two years to carry out the reorganisation, and t.ho manner in which the matter lias been handled reflects great cred-'t on the committee of share and debenture holders entrusted with tho task. UNITED STATES TRADE. , Tho foreign' trade of tho United States, in common with that of all the great commercial nations, established a fresli record in 1912. Imports and exports combined had a total value of no fewer than ,4,217,658,313 dollars, being 593 million dollars in cxcess of the total for 1911, and more than double the aggregate for 1899. In other words,, in 13 years there lias been an expansion of ICO per cent., while in tho past 12 months there was an improvement of upwards of 36 per cent, as compared with the aggregate of the previous year. Tho growth of the exports in 1912 amounted to 110 fewer than 307 million dollars, the value, of the total shipments of merchandise from the United Sfo'tes during the past year being 2399 million dollars, as against 2092 millions -dollars in 1911. The expansion in the country's export trade was not only substantial, but. .widespread. Berhaps tlio most striking example of expansion was in business with Canada, exports to that country increasing by 75 million dollars, on top of an augmentation of 57 million dollai-3 on tho previous year, and imports from tho Dominion expanding by 25 million dollars. Both the exports to, and the imports from, Canada were virtually twice as largo in 1912 as in 1907. Such expansion proves that the trade between these two wealthy neighbours is automatically increasing at a very rapid rate, without the aid of any artificial stimulus in the shape of fiscal reciprocity. But it was not with Canada alone that the trading of tho United States showed a substantial increase. There is plenty of evidence of a conspicuous extension of the Republic's export and import trade in various directions, and especially in its shipments to, and takings of goods from, tho United Kingdom, France, Germany, Brazil, and Japan. .CUSTOMS REVENUE. . Customs duties collected at the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £2354 17s. 4d. LONDON MARKETS. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency (X Ltd., have received tho following cablegram from their London house, under dato April 10:—lVheat: We have sold an Australian cargo at 38s. 3d. c.i.f. The market is firm, and there is a fair demand owing to Continental buying. The outlook is encouraging. We quote per Quarter c.i.f. New Zealand wheat:—Long-berried, 375.; short-berried, 365. 6d. Oats: We quote Gartons, 245.; spaYrowbills, 235. 6d. The outlook is uncertain. i COMPANY DIVIDEND. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. April 10, 10 p.m.) London, April 10. • The' British Australasian Trust and Loan Company has declared a dividend at the rato of 5 per cent., and a bonus of 2 per cent. ■ SYDNEY WOOL SALES. (Rec. April 10, 9.45 p.m.) Sydney, April 10. The wool sales liavo closed. The market was animated, with strong competition in all ejections, and prices were very firm at opening rates. Japaneso buyers l were taking the finest scoureds freely. AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. (Rec. April 10, 9.45 p.m.) Sydney, April 10. With tho strike over, the produce markets are ill a normal condition. Wheat, 3s. 8!d. Flour, £8 15s. Oats, Sparrowbills and Algexians, 3s. to 3s. Id.; Giants-, 3s. Id, Barley. Cape, 3s. lCd. to <s. Mflize, 4s. to 4s. 3d. Bran and pollard, £5 ss. Potatoes, Tasmanians. £7 10s. to £8 10s. Onions, Victorians, £8: New Zealands, £7 ss. Butter has declined another 45.; selected brands. 945.; good, 88j. to 905.; cheese, 61d. to 7Jd. Bacon, aid. to 9d. Adelaide, April 10. Wheat, 3s. 7id. to 3s. ,Flour, £8 to £8 ss: Bran and. Pollard, la. 2d. Oats, 2s. Id. to 2s. 2d. MELBOURNE HIDES MARKET. . (Rec. April 10,. 9.45 p.m.) Melbourne, April 10. Ni'des were in good supplies, and there was fair competition. Prji?s were Jd. to 3d. lower per lb. WHEAT. London, April 9. The, wheat market is firm. Sellers of Australian and La Plata are asking for a further advance; 38s. 9d. is asked for Australian January, and 38s. lid. for March. The American visible supply of wheat is 105,922,Cf10 bushels. TALLOW. London, April S. ( At the tallow safe, 1377 casta were offered, and 1007 sold. Prices realised:—Mutton, fine, 405.; medium, 355. 6d. Beef, fine, 38s. 6d.; medium, 355. AMERICAN COPPER. London, April 9. American stocks of copper total 104,259,00 lb. -