COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1756, 22 May 1913, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SIIAr.ES. A sale of Wellington Gas £10 shares at £16 wna tile only transaction Irecorded yesterday. The Quotations were as un■aer:—

WAR EI.S ICR. The tension between America, and Japanhas evidently frightened some of the more nervous people, hence the inquiries for war rifke. The rates emoted, however, viz.. ss. to 2Cs. per cent, are extremely small, and indicate that underwriters do not anticipMo that there will be war. The onestion at ii'HC is still in tile diplomatic £tage, nevertheless tho t two Governments must in view of possibilities Uiko precautionary measures. No , doubt a. good deal hats already bcon done, but there are matters that cannot very well be kept secret.. The question of the supplies of foodstuffs aiul forage. is one tJiat cannot very well bo kept, secret, and if there is any movement in this conncction Auc-tralasio, is bound to latow of it very early, for supplies must to some considerable extent be drawn from the Commonwealth and the Dominion. \>Q can furnish frozen jnc-at, canncn meat, laav oats, etc., and both Government© will nrobahh* look to Australasia for supplies. It is not unlikely that inquiries are berns? made now, if . so, eecwcy must bo one of tho conditions.

CAPITAL APPLICATIONS. According to' tho "Economist," London, th° capital obtained in London during the first quarter of the year aggregated £;C1,3«.7CC, and this compares with the corresponding quartor of previous years as under yiarch ciuartcr. £ 1913 50,34h,7C0 1912 47,965,100 1911 61.245.000 1910 99.J55.K0 1903 64.238.4C0 Commenting on this the "Economist" ■■ays- "111 the nrst quarter oi mis year to get mon?v was. of course, the governing consideration for all borrowers. The turmoil in the Balkans and the frerii outbreak of militarism throughout _ jßuropo coincided with a time of very active trade and rapid development all over tho wotlu. the result being that- anyone who wished to raV>c money had to offer terms which would have been thought a few y«nrj ago elmopt ridiculously attractive. Colonial Government'! and municipalities especially h-ive felt the pinch, and v.e have seen tho ipEelacle of important British colonies practically "stuck" in tlicir underwriting of'loans with nuito a high yield. The tlc-m-ind for capital, however, is still so keen all the world over that the volume of isme= during I've t.hroo months was fully up tn the a vera?,", and larger by £2.CK1,0C0 than the corresponding total of last year.

ATLAS ASSEBAXCE. j The accounts of the Atlas teurancc Commiit, Limited, for 1912 show that the net lire 'premium incomc was ,£1,082.«0, against "1041165 tor the previous year, and losses £550.7Z6. (lgainst £561,855. the ratio being Vo6 ', )C r (cut., against 53.9 per cent. The fir* underwriting snrphw is £143.578, against ££9,318; and after adding £16.510 to the to>erve for unexpired risks the profit is £l»7f6S asfliii'.t .C 59.330. In the employers liability, accident, and censrol account tlu> premium.* amounted to £37.956, against. and claims and other outgo to £"9 754 a"iin=t £26,772. Profit- ami loss ocooVnt '."hows total profits (with interest) 0 r £181123, oi'.d after paying income tax and debenture stock interest there remains a bilanre of ,€172.538. The sum ot £19.750 in placed to shareholders' investment, reserve fund; .£70.635 is Placed to lire insurant re fund, oud -«5t5 to employers liability-. accident, and general insurance fnncir-' ''"lie dividend for the year is at the 1-ite 'of 3U per cent... aeahist 25 tier cent, fir Hie previous vcar, T!i3 rointanv lias o. Raid-un <«iiOl of J3«.CC!) (with .ei.936.0f9 nirnl'ea). n.n:l milling fire insurance_ fund .£1.153.752. employers' li'nlulity. •'"•ideiri. and ccneral iii'Siiraiiee funds X42.M9. einl.--hi-r fund .nid ••apital redemption fund SmS?!contingency fund £22,298. shore, iiolil-r-' invc'taient re-erve fund £19.7- j. Tint life funds £2.202.329. tile total, exo.lusiv of uu'alleil capital, is «« j„„ current liabilities, the lialnncceheel. (of,it i" .E'i.Sl'USt. which is represented inii'iortßnges. loans, nml investment* .C 3.77.9.33.1. (t'litl minor it«m«. The investments in clu''e Indian and colonial Ooverpmeat sc. ~cities .£.137.96(1. Indian and colonial provincial securities .CSt.4U ; and Indian <i!id rolonlal municipal securitica £i18,0i6. BUTTBR. tlutter imports into the United Kiiijitom diirin" ?■! :i rrli amounted t-o 30„,j4icw1., a-'iinst 553.25E''\vt. for March. 1912, or a do. crease of 50.708fv.-t.: imports from \ietoria viiowin"* o. dcoi'o: ,: c of 20,7-i3e\vfmm from Xcv; Zealand n. dcriwrc of .H.TJcwl. Jnt:u imports iato Ilio United Kingdom for Uie

The total for the three months shows a, decrease of 129,804cwt ; , as compared with tho corresponding period last year, imports from Australia nnd New Zealand alono showing a decrease of about 93,CC0cwt. Customs- duties collected at tlio port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £1366 18s. 9d. FROZEN MEAT. Messrs. fiilbert'Anderson and Co. (Messrs. Mellsop. Eliott and Co., agents) report under date London, April 11, as follows:— Tho prices for lamb continue their upward progress, nnd the lisht shipments of mutton rather than any pronounced demand on the spot have helped pricca for sheep to the extent of 1-16(1. to }A-Home-grown.—Beef: Scotch, 7d. to 7Jd.; Enclish, 6 3-Bd. to 63d.; Irish, 6Jd. to 63(1. Mutton; Scotch, 7d. to od.; English. 63d. to 7id.; Dutch, 63d. to 7kl Tens: Scotch, Bd. to 9£d.; English, 7id. to Ed. Ewes, 55d. to ojd. Lamb: English, -9M. to Is. Teal, 7Jd. to BJd. Pork, 73d. to Bd. . Chilled Beef—A material advance has been seen in view of short supplies. Fores, 4d.; hinds, 5Jd. ~ , Frozen Bccf.-New Zealand fores 3)d., hinds 4}d. Australian, 3 7-16 d. and ' 3au.' Pin-tn, 35d. to 4), d. ■ Frozen Mutton.— Canterbury, 48 to 56. 4 U-16d.; 56 to 64. 4 7-16 d.: 64 to 72. 4Jd. Best North Island, 55 to 64. 4Jd. OrdinoTy 4!d. Ewes, 3£d. Plate wethers, 56 to 72, 4d. Ewes, Lamb.—The top of tho market has not vet. been reached. Canterbury. 28 to 35 and 36 to 42. 6 11-16 d.; f to 50, 6Jd. Best, North Tslond, 28 to 42. 61d.; ordinary, 6 3-Ed. Australian. 28 to 42. 6d.; fail', J*d.; Plate, 28 to 36, 5Jd.; 35 to 42, 5Jd. DALGETY'S SHAKES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright London, May 20. Dalstety's shares are ouotod at £5 17s. 6d, (buyers) and £6 7s. 6(1. (sellers). WOOL. (Eec. Hay 21, 9.30 p.m.) Sydney, May 20. The wool market is strong with an a«tivo demand; scoured has touched 25su. lr). WHEAT. London, Way 20. Official miotfltion.s for wheat;— South Austral i a ti, Now South Wales, and \ictorian, for prompt- delivery, 375. 9(1.; on passage, 38s. 6d.; Liverpool futures, 91* cents; July, ESkd. (Eec. May 21. 9.30 p.m.) London, May 21. The wheat, market is steadier, and the demand is slack. METAL MAKKETS. (Ecc. May 21, 9.30 p.m.) London, May 21. Copper is quoted at .£6B ICs. to £68 7s. 6d. Tin.—.£2l3 10s. to £213 15s. The weakness j'n tin is due to a. general pressure to sell. Lead.—£l9 ss.

Buyers. Sellers. £ s. d. £ .•* d. National Bank (old) 5 0 0 5 3 6 Ntiiioiwl Bank (new) .... 4 19 0 —• iBank New Zealand — 11 7 6 Jit-otropoiitan Building .... — 1210 0 N.Z. Iioan <wd Mercantile 0 10 3 — Christclmrch Gas 7 7 0 ~ Wellington Gas (£10) - 16 2 6 N.7i. .Insurance 5 10 — S.B. Insurance 3 13 0 — Oear Meat («£1) 3 2 6 „ T . Jtcafc Export (£4) 4 16 0 5 ,0 0 Heat Export. (523. 6d.) 2 19 0 —- Union Steam — 2 3 6 Kosciel Woollen — 312 0 Wcstport-StocUton 0 2 6 •- Donasliy Rope & Twino — t Golden Bay Cement — 1 0 3 Ts.7. Con. Dental 110 1 3 0 W.F.C.A 7 0 0 7 3 6

first, three mouths of tho year compnro aa f0ll0W; ' i 1912. 1913. Cut. Cwt. Victoria 180,609 150,738 New South Wales 'S-'SS Ouecu-laiul 2t>, / 73 New Zealand . 197,397 146.736 509,918 416,5S9 Jlen mark «B.169 392,191 Russia ■ S 3 ''® Sweden . 89,529 76.049 Netherlands jiS'Sf? Franco . 24,80d 304,816 United Stoics 2,572 — Ai Kcntiiin 27,481 37,907 Other countries 17,9c6 12,266 Total 1.147.674 1,017,870