The Stock Exchange

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 160, 24 July 1937, Page 9

The Stock Exchange

«'Cum Pref"

Review of Share Movements

Bj

There was little chauge in the volume of business recorded on New Zealand stock exchanges during the past week. Favourable announcements by rhe direetors of pome companies had the effect of flrming the pricee for the shares, but values generally were maintained at the levels of the prevfous period. The interest was spread 0Arer a large range of issues, with the usuql popu'ar shares continuing to attract attentiqn. Government Loans again were stTPngly supported, but the firmer offerg had little effect in attracting additional supplies to the market. with the reeult - that on Wednesday lasti the only sellers' quotation was for 1952-55 four per cent. Bonds. at £105. While the turnover of inost banking issues was comparativeiy rostricted, tliu business in these eliares covered a wider range. Australias had business at £12 10/- with further parcfils available at £15: 5 12/6. Commercials opened at 18/6 and after oue sale at 18/8 closed at opening xates. Report of Banking Year. National of New Zealand opened' at 60/-/ and 61/-, but closing saies were recorded f'roui 60/- to 60/6. The ehairman of directors of thie bank, at thu annual meetiug, stated that the past year in New Zealand had been oue of change and diiiiculty for the banks, but, uevertheiess, resuited in saiisi'actorv business. Provided there was pp fur ther eacrQaehnient by Government nieaSures on banking business, the bank should be able to participate in the yeturning prosperity of the Dominion. In making a general survey of the Dominion 's trade and financial activities during the year, the chairman re-fei-red to the f'avqwed. intentiqn" of the Government to keep interest rates as law as possible, Ha instanced the iimits imposed upon local bodies and &tate institutions. On the other hand, the banks felt the competition of the x ost Uiiice fcSavings Bank. Matter ,of Great Importance. Keferring to Government legislation, the chairinan said it was understood that a measure to be introduced wouid deai with the revision of the basis of taxation. * ' This is a mattqr of great importance and interest to us, uud, iu oqr opinion, overdue," he added. JOn nqmerous occasions we have drawq attion to the inequity of the arbitrary method by which the banks are assn'-ib-ed for income tax. Their proiits are ealculated on a basis which bear3 uo relation to their earning capacitly. In these days, when, through tho operation of the Marketing Aot the banks have lcst a large part of their exchange business, in addition to suffering a fall iin interest rates and increesed coet of labour — both enforced by legislation — their earning capacity must be impaired, Government 's Lavieli Expenditure. "The banks, of course, repreeented their cause to the committee which the Prime Minister appointed to exapiiue the whole question of taxation, and we are hppeful that we may be afforded gome alleviation when the Bill comes before the House." Deaiing with. the public finance, the chairman said pricee were good to-day and trade was active, *and there was money in the pockets of the people, but one could not regard the lavish expenditure of the Government without some concern. There would come again in its due course a period of reacbipn and lower prices, when trade would find it difficult, if not impossible, to bear the additional costs which were being imposed on it by legislation, and the minimum wages and shorter hours might bgcome ap. pconomic impossibility. It ' was then that the poiicy of guaranteed prices would be.put to the testj it mignt be a isevere strain, Gopper Production. Aceording to the United States of America Copper lnstitute> stocks at the end of 1936 and at the end of Oanuary, 1937, compared as foliows:—

The apparent world production for the corresponding period was:™-

World consumption for the period wfts:— t

During January tliere was a great deal of difference betweeu apparent production in America and the rest pf the world, There was, however, a marked difference in apparent consumption, a contraction of 1090 tons in America being accompanied by an expansion of 22,520 tons for tho rest of tho world. There is a sqggesriou there that specu{ative buying outside Anierica, has been superimposed upon a heavy industrial demand, Ho\y niuch of tliis speculative buying has been on account of market operatQrs, who aimply purehase the metal to sell it again at n profit, and how much on account of fabricators, who, fearing that there may be shortage of supplies in the near tatare, desire to stock up, is not ascertainable from the pubjislied statistics. Standard coi>per areragc £08 19/7 , , for 1930, Avhich closcd with the -figuri

at £45 19/9 for December; it climbed to £51 10/10 for "January, and to £59 5/6/ for February. On March 25 it was £73 8/9, and electrolytic had reached £79, but the present price has eased to £56 15/7, In some quarters it is contended that the speculative position of copper is not so good as it was. With things as they are, many low-grade, high-qosc producers are tempted to come into produeuon, while existing big proaucers in America, Bhodesia and Ohile may be induced to increase the volume oi their output. Ample ore reserves are. available, but Most of the large minea are uow operating at or near capacity, and exteusions and additions to their equipment canuot be carried out immediateiy. Of tho 17,800 tons of copper produce ed in Australia in 1936 Mt. Lyell contiibuted about 75 per cent. Moreover, practically the whole of h$t. Lytell's output is eonsumed iocally, and demand continues to grow, To increase its output of cathod copper from 13,000 oons to 14,000 tons per annum, ihe company i« iustaliing eight new qepositing tanks in the reiinery, and making additions to other equipment, For thp year to Beptember 30 last, Mt. Lyell 's all-in cost of producing and seiling a ton of copper waa £42 14/10, compared with £43 1/10 and £53 fo? the two preceding terms. Mining costs alone were approximately £3 lower at £28 4/8 per ton of copper, following savi-ngs from the intrpduction of ppen cutting and efficient handling and treat'ment methods. It is interesting to note, however, that the all-in cost oi' producing a ton of copper" at Eoau Ontelppfi (Bhodesia) was approximately £24 15/for the ^ear to June 30 last. Chaip Store Shares Active. The Australian and New Zealand markets have been kept buoyant in recent years by the increasing activity in chain store shares, With tho quoting of McKenzies department stores on the unofficial Jist the volume of business in this class of shares attracts the constant attention of investors. The floating of the holding company to take over the J. B. McKenzie interests resuited in the release of large parcels . of shares cum. dividend at £3 7/6 and £4 2/6 respectively. With the markot quoring the issue at prices ruling frpm £3 19/- to £4, considerable seiling pressure of the earlier release at £3 7/6 prevented any substantial rise. It would appear as though this phaae of seiling pressure has now disappeared and buyers are finding it more difflcult to obtain supplies. The result is that saies now are being recorded at; firmer rates with buyers offering £4 2/- for additional, The negotiations between Woolwprthe (Sydney) and G, J. Coles are reported to have been reopened after a break of several weeks due to the illness of the chairman of directors of the former company. In the meantime Woolworths shares suffered a set-back following the payment of the dividend and prices eased from £6 18/- to £6 12/6. A partial recovery has been recorded during the week under Teyiew and closing saies were reported at £6 14/-. G, J, Coles firjned to £5 11/6 following the ?muouncement of an increased final dividend anfi a bonus issue of one share for ten. The shares, however, have been fluctuating considerably recently, and the week under review proved to be no exception. Prices eased to £5 9/5 to recover to £5 12/6. The price was not maintained, and closing saies were recorded at £5 9/6. It is reasonable to expect that a eatisfactory agreement between the two largest chain store companies operating in Australia will result in considerable appreciation in share values. The following table gives the highest and lowest prieesi and, in brackets, the number of parcels which changed hands on New Zealand stock exchanges during the past week: — Hisliest. Lowest.

Dec., 1936. Jan., 1937, Tons, Tonp, America ...... 161,070 142,870 Rest of world 192,230 198,680. Total ....... 353,300 336,050

Dec., 1936. Jan., 1937, Tons. Tons. America ...... 69,65Q 75,160 Rest of world , , 101,460 107,300 Total 171,110 182,550

Dpc,, 1936. Jan., 1937s Tons, Tone. America ...... 82,400 80;610 Rest of wprld .. 79,300 101,410 Total ...... 161,700 18g,220

Inscribed Stock 81 per cent., 1939-43 (1) 1Q2 15 0 Inscribed Stock 31 per cent 1953-57 (3) ......... 98 10 0 98 5 0 Inscribed Stock 4 per cent., 1948-46 (7) ...... 104 15 0 104 5 0 Inscribed Stock, 4 per cent., 1946-49 (4) 104 7 6 104 5 0. Inscribed Stock, 4 per cent,, 1952-55 (4) „.... 105 0 0 104 15 0 Government Bonds, 4 per cent., 1943-46 (1) 104 7 6 Government BondB, 4 per cent.. 1946-49 (11 104 5 0

GOVERNMENT STOCKS AND BONDS—

Australiasa (1) 12 10 0 Australasia pref. (1) 9 11 3 Corp. of Australia ord. (18) f„ 18 8 18 5 Nftt, of N.Z, (p) 3 1 Q 3 0 0 New Sppth Wales (11) sp 5 0 85 2 6 New Zealand ord. (19) 2 4 0 2 3 7

BANKS—

New Zealand (3) 8 6 0 3 5 9 South Britigb (1) 4 17 8

INSURANCES—

Goldsbrougb Mort, (8) 1 15 5 * 1 15 8 N.Z, Farmers' Cfvop, Stock 1945 (1) 90 5 0 Guarantee Corp, (6) ... 5 0 4 11 N,Z. Loan and M°reantile (1) «... 45 0 0 Traders Finance (1) 14 8

LOAN AND AGENCY-

Gear Meat (2) ' 17 0 16 9 N,Z, Refrig, (411) (1) 19 9 N-Z, Refrig. (fO) (1) ... 9 2 SI

FROZEN MEAT—

Auckland (2) 119 1 f 6 Wellington, pref. (2) ... 14 6 14 2

GAS—

Devonport Ferry (2) .... 10 0

SHIPPING—

Pukemiro (2) 18 fi 18 0 Taupiri (1) 1« 9 Westport Stockton (1) 2 8 Renown (1) 2 9

COAL—

Kaiapoi (3) 14 4 l| 0 Wellington (1) 6 18 0

WOOLLENS—

Carlton pref. (5) 2 5 9 2 4 1* Dominion (11) 2 5 9 2 3 6 New Zealand (5) 2 10 6 2 10 0 Staples (2) 2 11 6 Tooths (2) 2 15 6 2 15 5 Tui (1) 2 16 6

BREWERIES—

Anthony Horden pref. (1) 19 0 Aust., Glass (3) 3 12 6 4 12 0 Aust. Iron and Stee) pref. (1) 17 1 Aust. Iron red Step) pref. (1) 1 11 9 British Tobacco (16) ... 2 10 3 1 19 8 Broken Hill Prop. (58) 4 5 3 4 3 6 G. J. Coles (40) 5 12 6 5 9 0 Colonial Sugar (5) 47 12 6 47 10 Q Consol. Brick and Pip® (3) 8 11 so Dominion Fertilizer (3) 14 3 Dunlop Perdriau (9) ... 1 8 JQ 1 8 7 Elec. Zinc. (10) 2 18 9 1 171Q Elec. Zinc. pref. ()2) 2 19 g 2 18 5 Hume Pipe (Aust,) (8) 10 8 1 0 Q Bycrofts (1) 2 8 0 Mort. Dock (3) .... .... 18 10 13 3 Taranaki Oil (10) 4 10 4 8 Henry Jones Co-op. ... 2 8 8 Shillings Ltd. (3) , 18 0 Kempthorne Prosspr (N.Z. Drug) (2) 3 14 8 N.Z. Farm Fertilizer (2) 1 1 Q 109 Wilson's Cement (8) 10 4 10 1 Woolworths (N.Z.) pref, (1) 1 19 0 Woolworths '(N.Z.-) ord. (2), 6 15 0 6 12 6 Woolwortlis (Sydney) (Jnd, pref.) (2) ...... Ig 0 16 B Woolworths (South Africa) , (9) .6 16 6 MeRenzie's IDeptStores (20) 4 12 9 8 19 6

MISCELLANEOUS—

Waihi Investment (1) 12 1 Mount Morgan (17) ... 11 9 11 4 Mount Lyell (24) 2 3 0 9 12 1 Bjg Rivero (1) 1 61 Broken Hill (South) (17) 2 8 9 '2 17 0 Broken Hill (North) (25 . 3 J4 3 S 14 2

MINING—