Bank of New South Wales.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 270, 18 May 1895, Page 2

Bank of New South Wales.

(Melbourne Argus, Ist May, 1895.) The half-yearly statement of accounts to ;Ust March, of the Bank of New South Wales, appears to-day. The position of the Bank is one of extraordinary strength, for against the liabilities to notelioldcrs and depositors, amounting to .i' 10 ,0:37,777, the cash assets (inclusive of Government securities) present tbe largo total of £6,785,511, or, say, over «7. 1 , per cent, or 7s 6d in the £. This is certainly security in a high degree. Of course there is another side to the question, viz., the loss attendant upon keeping a great deal of money idle. But banks have before all things to maintain an impregnable position, and it' times demand the accumulation of large reserves, no hesitation should be shown in increasing the cash holdings. This condition, coupled with the equally important one that no loan should be granted by banks excepting upon really interest-bearing securities, is at the root of the banking system that will withstand the assaults of financial, mercantile, and industrial crises. As compared with the previous statement as at 30th September, 1594, the cash reserves of the Bank of New South Wales show an iucrease of nearly £1,000,000. The figures relating to the current business of the Bank are suggestive of activity. On the one side the item " bills payable and other liabilities: " shows an increase of nearly £1,200,000, and on the other side the item •' bills receivable, bills discounted, etc.," shows an increase of about £718,000. The capital account of the Bank is in a very satisfactory condition. In November, 1893, a fresh issue of shares was made to produce £750,000. Up to the present time onehalf of this amount, or £375,000, has become due, but no less than £587,300 has been received, the amount paid in anticipation being £212,300. Only £162,---700 remains to be received. The new issue was made at a premium, and this premium up to date has added £148,072 to the reserve fund, which now stands at £1,158,072. The net profit for the half-year amounts to £81,714, to which is added balance brought forward £21,---755, making a total of £103,469. Out of this a dividend at the rate of nine per cent per annum and interest on capital paid in advance absorb £81,621, leaving a balance of £21,848 to be carried forward. At the meeting of the proprietors of the Bank of New South Wales held in Sydney to-day, the President (Mr J. R. Hill) reviewed the position of the Bank and colonial circumstances generally. In referring to the apparently inordinate holding of coin and equivalent assets he emphasized the point that it is in some degree abnormal, and that some of it was of a temporary nature. He stated that the directors were not unmindful of the obligation to invest more largely than in the past in Government and similar securities, but that their intentions had been hampered by the high price of securities of this character, and that they had held their hand. The directors have acted in this matter with much prudence, for the present colonial quotations for Government and corporation securities are unduly high. Mr Hill went on to survey colonial conditions, his remarks being terse, but comprehensive and masterly. He referred particularly to pastoral matters, which, after all, are the mainstay of the prosperity of the Australian colonies. With the following sentence every sensible person in the community will cordially agree : — " I cannot too strongly reiterate and emphasize my belief that these colonies depend for their future progress upon an intelligent and industrious use of the natural advantages which are afforded by the large area of cultivatable country which the climates and soils of such an extensive territory secure for the production of numerous and varied articles of consumption which the Old Worfd cannot supply for itself." It is abundantly evident that the Bank of New South Wales, guided by its experience of three-quarters of a century, is one of the principal bulwarks of the monetary and mercantile interests, of the Australian colonies..