COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1789, 30 June 1913, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. A fale of Christchurch Gas at £7 10s. 6d. was the only transaction recorded on Satr urday. The quotations were as under:— Bujora Sellers. £ 8. d. ■ £ a. d. National Bank (old) — ,5 5 5 Metropolitan Buildin? ... — lj J 6 N.Z. Loan, Jler. (IPs.) ... - 010 9 N.Z. Loon, Mer. (prcf.) 96 10 0/ 98 0 0 N.Z. and River Plate ... 2 0 0 — Well. Investment 0 11 3 — Wellington Deposit- 0 5 6 — Nopior Gas (£5) ,5 2 5 , £ c n Well. o<i6 (£10) 1< 5 0 16 5 0 Well. Gas (pref.) 0 15 3 10 0 Christchurch Meat 15 If —. Gear Mcc.t (.£4) 12 6 0 N.Z. Shipping 16 0 0 — Union Steam — ■ ? 5 5 Taupiri Coal — 12 0 Wcstport Coal 1 7 0 ■ «■, Westport-Stocliton , 0 4 0 0 4 3 Taringamutu Totaro. 2 3 6 — Golden Bay Cement — J J J Sharland'e preference .... — 1 <5 o Word and Co 5 2 0 ■— W.F.G.A. (£1) - • 18 3 INTERNATIONAL CHEQUES. Tho International Chamber of Commerce appointed a special committee to investigate the British' cheque 'system with a view to its adaptation <U5 an international system. Tho meetings of the committee took place at the offices of the London Chamber of Commerce and representatives attended from Holland, America, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Hungary, a«s well as Great Britain, and all are leadens of their respective'chambers of commerce. The secretary of the International Committee, M. Bmilo Jottrand, of Belgium, who was formerly legal advieer to tho Siamese Government, is. evidently an ardent admirer of tho English cheque «y6tem, which- ho described t-o an interviewer as tho best in tho world. It was the' purpose of the committee, he-said, t-o arrive.at.au International form »o£ cheauc. ;<ind' they wanted to get as neair Q6 possible-to the English system. ' The bu-sincss man in this couidtry doe>3 not need to be reminded of tho great advantages which out cheque system confers in facilitating commercial trans* actions; indeed, at this tlmo of day Jio may well wondeir how we could get on without it. Itt attempting to introduce or extend the uso of the cheque into other countries the International Committee is carrying out a most important work which will confer advantages not only upon tho new adopters, but upon Great Britain as well.' The adoption of a uniform cheque for every country may not bo brought about in a day, but tho nearer we get to eucli a happy development the more will international transactions be facilitated, while the extended u«j of the cheque system should play an important part in tho J cconomy of gold as a basis of currency. I OCEANIC •STEAM COMPANY. 1 Tho loss of the Titanic, the accident to the Olympic, and higher operating costs affected tho earnings of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co., Ltd,, during the year ended Docember 31. The. accounts just to hand from London show profits on working account amounting to-£836,332, as compared with £1,074,752 in 1911, the total revenue from all sources being £919,033. The less of tho Titanic is to be spread over a fierlcs of years, the moiety debited to the period under review being £108,159; while for general depreciation £419,491 is apportioned. After payment of interest and- expenses of administration there is a balance of £385,516 at credit of profit and loss. An interim dividend of 30 per.cent, was paid in. March. 1912, and the reserve fund is now strengthened by £100,000, leaving a sum of £60,516 to bo carried forward. The book, value of the fleet now -stands at £7,097,295, a© against £5,136,685 at the end of 1911. while the insurance fund is lees by £100,000. The gross, tonnage : of tho fleet is 485,000 ton-3, exclusive of the Britannio and Ceramic, approximating another 68,000 ton?. The profit of the company's fleot work'out at £2 Is.'7d. por ton, as compared with £2 10s. 6d. in 1911, and £2 15s. 7d. in 1910. EASTERN EXTENSION TELEGRAPH. ' The report of the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company, Limited, for the half-year ended December 31, 1912, elates that gross receipts were £379,445, against £359,596 for the corresponding half, of 1911; and working expenses absorb £154,779, against £159,232, leaving a balance of £224,666. After deducting income tax and debenture stock interest-, the net profit for the half-year is £205.851, to which is added £56,684' brought making a total of £262,535. Quar-' terly dividends of 1J per cent, each are paid, and a bonne of 2 per cent. makes a total distribution of 7 per cent, for 1912. After transferring £100,000 to the general reserve fuud, a balance of £27,535 is carried forward. The general reserve fund' has been debited with £50,000 as a further provision on account of investment, fluctuations. bringing tho total provision Against depreciation up to £200,000. In pursuance of tho policy of •strengthening the com; pariy'o cable capacity in the Far East, contracts have been entered into for new cables between Colombo, Penang, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The expenditure of this account up to the end of last y«ar, £86,704, has been charged against the genera! reserve fund. The company has a share capital of £3,000,000, and adding 4 per cent, mortgage debenture etock £752.400, reficrvos £1,641,365, and other items tho bal : ance-cheet total is £6,101,077. Assets include cost of. cables, land lines, stations, ships, etc., £3.806.239, investments oil ac- , count of re-servo funds (including spare cable, etc.),' £1,631,956, and other items. i BEET'-.SUGAR. i A year ago first marka granulated sugar ; rcas quoted in Hamburg at 15s. Id., it is : now about 3s. lowct, wliiph means a reduc- j tion of £3 per ton. The. decline is due to the increased and according } to Hcrr F. 0. Licht, the' Magdeburg au- *1 thority, the surplus for the present cam- : paigi) will be over two million tons. A j further explanation'of the decline ie« fur- , niehed by Messrs. William Oonnal and Co., ' of Glasgow, in. their latest circular. According to this authority, in con?enuencc ' of Cuban sugar being more firmly held, stocks in Cuba have accura-ulatrd to over « £00,000 tona—a figure never formerly reach- \ ed-and meltings by refiners have mean- • time been reduced to 40,000 tons per week, as tho grocery trade dccline to hold any < surplus stocks, until the duty question has been settled. The reaping of the Cuban crop make* rapid progress, and with a ' continuance of favourable weather tho full estimate of 2,300,000 tows may ultimate' \y be attained. The sowing of the next J beetroot crops has now been almost com- « ploted. and under comparatively favourable'weather conditions. A moderate rc- : duction in the area placed under culti- 4 vation it reported, probably on the over- < 3 to 5 per cent., but it is still too J early to obtain Accurate information. Visible supplies at the end of April were 3,864,000 .tons, against 2.763,000 tons in 1912, i and 3,222,380 tons in 1911. I CUSTOMS. " Custom.* duties collected at the port of , Wellington on Saturday totalled £1455 10=. • 7d.. the amount for the week being . £20,442 106, 7d. The returns for each of tli© past ci&ht wccktfj with. Uio.l.i

. figures for the correepondnig period of the ; previous year, show a-s under:— r 1913. 1312. Mar 10 17.123 10.339 May 17 16.644 18.298 May 24 12,518 11,453 May 31 13.813 10,224 Juno 7 14,831 15,564 June 14 21.390 10,971 Juno 21 10,629 21,732 June 28 20,442 12,150 £127,390 £110,731 Tho beer iluty collected for the past wee totalled £209, a® ngainst £220 17s. for th corresponding: week of last year. SOUTH CANTERBURY MAKKETS. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.! Oamaru, June 29. What may bo described as absolute stag nation reigns in tho wheat market, onl a few odd lots changing .hands during th week, and quotations arc unchanged. Th oat market has weakened slightly. Owin to tho absence of orders, A grade hav brought from Zs. 2d. to 2s. 2id- net a country stations, and B grade at 2s. Id but now thosei prices are difficult to ol tain. Thcro arc, however, few oats i: tho district, and holders are not cage to sell. Ryecorn ha-s sold at 2s. 3d. nel The market is a little easier for oater sheaf cha.lT, and cow grass toed ia in th fame Potatoes have sold at 70f to 755. during tho week, but holders wil not break their pits at these figures, am iiro holding on. Plenty ltavo been offerci at £4, but there liavo been no buyers. I is tho opinion of merchants that only < demand from tho Commonwealth cai avert a further drop, and that, at th present moment, seems to bo a remot contingency. LONDON MARKETS. By Telegraph—Press Association-Oopyrigh (Rec. Juno 29, 5.15 p.m.) London, Juno 28. Copra is in fair demand. South. Sea in bags, prompt shipment, is quoted a' £28 17s. 6d. per ton. Cotton.—American middling cotton, June July delivery, is clearing at 6.47} d. per lb. Jute.—Native first marks. June-July ship ment, are quoted at Dundee at £29 5a per ton. _. , N.Z. Hemp.—Tho market is Ann. Hittr point, fair quality, July-September ship ment, £27 10s. per ton. < Rubber—Fine hard Para rubber isquotec at 3s. 9Jd. per lb. Pig-iron.—Middlesboro' No. 3, 545. Bd. pei ton. ■ - Spelter is ouoted at £21 per ton. Antimony, £8 ss. per ton of 50 per cent ore. ANTWERP WOOL SALES. (Rcc. Juno 29, 5.15 p.m.) London, June 25. The Antwerp wool rales have closed. Oui of 5975 baJos, La Plata offered 2684 sold. ■ MINING 1 NEWS, i Wellington' share market. > Tlie sales reported on Sfl,turd2-y wcr©:— Wdihi. at 40s. 6d.; Weihi Grand. Junction at'l9s. 6d.; and Waitangi, at sd. TJIO QUO tatfions were as under:— Buy«ra. S«!lcrf £ s. d. £ 6. d. Btockwatcr* v — 1 2 C Kuronui Caledonian 0 0 8 — Not Sylvia .. 012 0 1 Ross Reconstructed 0 9 1 0 9s Saxon ~ 0 0 ! Talisman 1 16 9 — Victoria. S ? 5 Waihi 2 0.3 - Waihi Reefs, 0 0 7 - Wcihi Grand Junction ... — 019 S Waihi-Paeroa 1 13 3 — Waitangi ; 0 0 4J Watchman '. ~ 0 Z ( Worksop Dredjro 313 6 — STOCK EXCHANGE. (By Tolesrnipli.—Prew Association.) Auckland, June 28. Sales on 'Change this morning:— Waihi, £2 6s. to £2 Is. • Grand Junction, 193. 6d. /Sylvia, le. 3d. Watchman, Is. 9d. Bank of New Zealand (ex dir.), £11. Auckland Gae (paid), £1 9s. Chrlstchurch, June 28. ■Sale reported—Wostport-Stockton C0a1,4«, Ounedin, June 28. Sates reported :—Waihi, £2 tts. 7id.; Grand Junction. 19s. Bd.j Union Steam, £2 45., £2 4s. . ■ ■