COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2365, 22 January 1915, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

i INVESTMENT SHAKES. f There- were no transactions recorded in investment shores yesterday. The quotas tions were as follow :— Buyen. Seller*. £ «. d. £ 6.d National Bank ..„,. 5 J 6 — DarJt New Zeolflid (old) 10 0 0 - Bank New Zealand (new) — 16 10 0 N.Z. Insurance 618 0 63 0 Ohrtstchurcb, Meat 16 7 6 — Well. Woollen (ord.) 4 ? 6 - Westport ■ 1 10 6 — WestportStookton. ....... 0 4 8 .— Manning and Go. „. .4 2 6 — THE BBITISH WAB, LOAN. The prospectus ol the British war loon of £39,000,000, of which £100,000,000 hoe already been taken, set out that the iesuo would bo made In the form of inscribed .Block or bonds, bearing interest at tie rato of 31 per cent., per annum, payable halfyearly, on March 1 and September 1. The price of.issue was £95 per cent., and the 6tock was made a,' trustee Investment, notwithstanding that tho price at the time of- investment might exceed the redemptive : value of £10(1 • per cent. Applicants were required to lodge deposits of £2 per cent.Vol tho sum tendered, and further payments wcro mado payable as follow:— £3 per cent, on December.7, and £10 per cent, each on December 21, January 7, January 21, February 4, February 22, March 11, March 25, April 12, and April 26. U not.previously redeemed, the loan will bo repaid at par on March 1, 1928, but the .Government reserves the right to redeem at par from March 1, 1925, on giving not [ess then three calendar months' notice. Inscribed stock is convertible into bonds to bearer at.any.time without payment of any fee; and bonds to bearer ere oxchangeable for inscribed stock on payment of a fco of Is. per bond. In case of partial allotment the balenco of the amount paid as deposit was to be applied towaras the payment of the first instalment. Simultaneously -with the publication of the prospectus, it was announced that the Bank ol England would be prepared, for e period of three years to March 1, 1918, to. lend on the war loan taken at the issue price, without margin,' at. 1 per cent, under the bank rate varying. NEW CAPITAL APPLICATION!!. Offerings of now capital in England during November included, of course, the war loan of '. £300,000,000. Excluding that issue, and also the Swiss mobilisation loan ot £2,000,000, the aggregate for the month was £4,221,900, e6 against £2,728,400 for October, whilst the monthly average since the commencement of hostilities is estimated at £2,339,400. The record for November, therefore- wee encouraging. A year ago the capital issues in London amounted to £14,643,000. Tho Swiss Federal loan of £3,0CU,000 was not directly offered in London, though such would have been,, tho case haa not Germany raised objections, but the Swibs hanking houses there did not fall to interest their clients in the issue. The rest of the borrowing was representative of the needs of home local authorities, nono of which exceeded £6000. From the finanoial department" : no issue emanated, and th« mining ; group was reduced to a solitary emission. -.-The commercial and miscellaneous section'oleo remained quiet. Most of the applications recorded came from existing concerns, which since the end of July last have taken no less than £8,756,000, and that total would .have been greater but for several postponements which -wero mado in view, of the ■ flotation of tho big war loan. Practically the whole of the new issues in November were made without difficulty, whilst in several instances the sums tendered were so largely inT excess of tho requirements of .the borrowers as to indicate almost a plethora of, funds available for investment in sound industrial 'ventures.

JAPANESE SHIPPING. A statistical' summary showing the earn* tegs of Japanese shipping companies during 1913 is Included in the "financial and Economic. Annual of Japan" for 1914. The number of companies operating ' is given ae 23, es egain6t 18 In-1912 and 20 in .1911,; the paid-up capital having risen from £6,065,101 to £$248,400 during .the twelve jnonths under' review. Nine years earlier the. total was £3,429,900., Vessels iin commission numbered -682,, as against*.. 419; gross earnings were shown at £5,963,042, as compared vath -£5.190,030, in additionto which there were in 1913 miscellaneous receipts amounting to £324,213. end shipping .subsidies arid bounties- 'to--another £1;152,* 195. The last-mentioned sum when ' set against, that under the same heading in tho immediately antecedent term discloses a -reduction'of £32,965. Even at the lower level,. howerver, the . assistance derived by .the companies from this source was £521,156 in'excess of the amount paid out as' dividends and bonuses, the "aggregate of which was £631,039. Net earnings,' tat £1,570,382. were £536,405 higher thfln . in 1912. Taking the dividends,paid during the last ten years, tho average rate works out at 8.25 per cent., which is a better result than that received by shareholders In British concerns for the same period. The strides that have been made in shipping by Japan in recent years is indicated by the fact that in 1899 the tonnage of Japanese steamers entering Japanese porte from abroad was less then the British, betns 3,028,121 tone against 3,241,044 tons;'but' 7 * 11 --° Japanesc tonnage had increasfrom 8,110,067 tons in 1899 to no Ices than M,658,874 tons in 1913, the value of the importe moving upwards from £28,400,000 to ifWW.OOO, and that of exporte from £19,600,000 to £53,000,000. It is interesting to noto tliat of the. total trade of Japan 32 per cent. 1b irith. Great Britain end her possessions. , .

_Oustoma duty collected at the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £2010 2s. od. . . LONDON WOOL BALEB. By Telcffrajh-Preaj Association-Copyright ■ 1 • London, January 20. At tlie ttool ealeo crossbred® were 10 per cent, above December rates. Iferinoß were firm at opening rates. There was active competition. Prices realisedTuppal, 14d., 12 3-Bd.: Buflton, 121q., 9|d.; Wangeline, 12Jd., lOjid.; 0.Y., 16., llld.'jAooa, Is., lid.; Belaiie, 9Jd.,'BJd.; Welhollow, 93d., 9 3-Bd.; Werengovrt, 16d., 14{d.j Coongoola, llld., 10Jd.; Fernlee, lid.. 9ja.; Burenda, 13|d.', lljd.; New Zealand, Horaurinul, lfijd., 16id.

6YDNBT WOOL SALES. fflec. January 21, 9.50 p.m.) Sydney, January 21. '' The week's wool sales closed strong, tic Improved prices being firmly maintained, with an advancing tendency, especially ill crossbreds. There was brisk competition, the buyers including Americans, Japanese, and French. Merinos touched 14d„ crossbrcds 13; d— rccordyf or the season.

AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. (Eeo. January .'2l, 9.50 p.m.) Sydney, January 21. Oats, Tasmania!],' 4s. 2d., 4s. 6d.; New. Zealand grade A Gortons, 4«. 4d„ B grade, •'?. 2d'. Barley, Cape, 45., 4s. 3d. Maize, 55., 6s, Id. Potatoes, Tasmanian, £3 6s. to £5 10s. Onions, Yiotorian, £11. Butter, advanced 4s„ now 120s. for selecteds; secondary, 112s. to 116s. Cheese, 61d. Bacon, 9d. to 10d'.

, Adelaide, January 21. Wheat: Sellers are asking' 7s. 3d. for large lots, and buyers offer 7s. Flour, £15 lO.i. • Bran, 2s. Pollard, 2s. 4d. Oats, Algerian, 4s. 3d. , .HIDES.. (Eeo. January 21, 9.50 p.m.) Melbourne, January 21. The hides market reports small supplies, keen competition, arid prices id. dearer .' CHICAGO WHEAT London,' January 20. ' Chicago May options, idol. 39 cents to Idol. 413 cents. July options, Idol. 231 cents to Idol. 254 cents. ' TALLOW BALES. London, January 20. Casks offered and sold totalled 848 Prices realised: Mutton, fine, 405.; medium, 345. Beef, fine, 38s. 9d.; medium, 335. 6d. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have received. the following cablegram from their London house under date January 20.—Tallow: We quote present spot values for tho following descriptions: Good mutton, 38s. 3d.; good beef, 355. 9d.; mixed, 32e. 3d. LONDON MARKETS. London, January 20. Wheat.— I The market is quieter. Linseed 0i1.—£26 10a, Turpentine,-—37s. 6d. METAL MARKETS. London, January M. Copper.—On the spot, £61 to £61 65,; electrolysis, £54 106. to £65. Tin.—On the spot, £155 to £155 10s.'; three months, £148 r ss. to £148 15s. Pig-iron.—s6s. 6d. per ton. Lead.—£l9 Bs. 9d., £18 lis. 3d. per ton. Spelter.—£3l 2s. 6d„ £31 7s. 6d. per ton.