NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 36, 10 February 1873, Page 2

NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND

[Limited] . * o — [Reprinted from the Australian and New Zealand Gazette, of December 14, 1872,] The first general meeting of the shareholders in this bank, under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1867, was held at the City Terminus Hotel on Tuesday, the 10th December, under the presidency of Mr Dudley Eobert Smith. Mr A Grace, the London manager, read the notice convening the meeting. The report of the directors, which was taken as read, states tbat . — "The bank was registered, in terms of the Joint-Stock. Companies' A^t, on 14th August last, and the prospectus was issued on the 16th of the same month. Applications were received for 110,872/Bhares; but as the total issue was 100',000 shares only, of which 33,333 were reserved for New Zealand, the directors were unable to allot

more than 60,667 shares m this country to 850 shareholders, representing a subscribed capital of £666,670. The deposits on application and allotment of the 7shares„ Amounting to £i 10s per," share, have : been fully paid, aud amount to the . sum. of £166,667 10s. Mr W. S. Grahame, orie :; of tho directors, who was proceeding to the colony, has kindly undertaken to assist in making tlie necessary arrangements for organising the branches to be opened in the principal fields for business. A settlement in the company's shares on the London Stouk Exchange was applied for on the 18th of October, and obtained on the 31st For continuation of news see fourth page.'

of the same month. The directors have appointed Mr Adam Burnes,* in 'whose colonial experience they have every confidence, as their Inspector and General Manager in New Zealand, and he and other officers are now on their way to the colony. Mr Alexander Grace, late London manager of the Bank of Otago, Limited, ha** been appointed London manager. An arrangement (subject to the approval of their shareholders) hag been made with the directors of the Bank of Otago, Limited, for the transfer of their business to this company as soon as practicable. . So far as the directors are at present aware, they do not anticipate any immediate necessity for making a call. The directors have confidence in the success of the company, and trust that when they next meet their shareholders, they may be in a position to report that the business is' making satisfactory progress. The bank is now open for the transaction of business." The Chairman said— Gentlemen, I am sorry that the report in itself is not of a more important nature, but, as you are probably aware, tl* is meeting is called in accordance with the Act of Parliament, and is not the spontaneous act of your directors, who would have been content to wait a little longer before calling you together, and until they had subjects of more importance , to communicate to you. But before proceeding further I should wish to express my regret, in which I am sure you will sympathise, that our worthy Chairman is absent from his post to-day — a position which he would have filled much more efficiently than I can hope to do. There- is no one who took a warmer interest in the formation of the bank than he did, and no one will more regret his absence to-day, on this the first meeting of the shareholders, than he will himself, But Mr Magniac is at present absent from England spending a well-earned holiday at Palermo. I trust, however, that he will be amongst us again shortly, invigorated and braced up for hard work in the interests of the bank (hear, hear). I will, with the permission of the meeting, read a letter which I received from him last week; it is addressed from Palermo and dated 26th November, 1872. He says:— "My dear Smith — I have received your advice of the general meeting of our bank having been fixed for the 10th prox. Will you kindly express for me to our fellow shareholders how much I regret that the state of my health renders it absolutely impossible for me to be present. Pray assure them that it is a severe disappointment to me. I felt no small pride in the successful launching of our concern at a moment of considerable financial and political anxiety. Notwithstanding these hindrances, applications were received for nearly double the amount^ of our shares, chiefly from persons acquainted with New Zealand and its resources [our Chairman might have added that our company came out at a time when the best part of the world was holiday making and London nearly deserted, namely, the middle of August]. I think we may congratulate ourselves on this sure proof of the soundness of our undertaking and upon the favorable prospects it holds out for the future. Assure the shareholders thatno exertion on my part shall be spared to ensure success. — Believe me, yours very flinccrGlv (Signed) " Charles Magniac." Well, gentlemen, although I have stated that we have not much of importance to communicate to you, you must not believe that your Board has been idle. You will readily understand that a great deal of work has to be done before an undertaking of this kind can be brought into a state to carry on business. As in the laying the foudation of a house very important and solid j work has to be done before the walls rise sufficiently high to be seen. Not the least anxious and important duty which we had to perform has | been the selection of an efficient staff for carrying j on work in the colonies, and I think we may congratulate ourselves on the appointment of Mr Burnes, whose banking ability, integrity, and large ' commercial and colonial experiences especially fit him for the post which he has gone out to fill (hear, hear). Mr Burnes' departure was delayed, and he worked with the Board for some two months in London, and the zeal and interest which he displayed in the work of the bank fully confirmed the favorable opinion which we had previously formed of him (hear, hear). We have also selected nine other gentlemen, who are now on their way to New Zealand; and we hope with the services of these gentlemen, many of whom have had considerable colonial experience, and with the assistance wbich we "may reasonably hope to obtain on the spot, that we shall have a sufficient staff to carry on the business of the head office at Wellington and to open the branches which we propose to establish forthwith. Ever since we hare commenced we have experienced nothing but encouragement, and we have never been led for one moment to doubt the expediency of the step we have taken in the formation of this bank. Very soon after we started we heard of another company who had [made up their minds to start a similar hank, but our appearance forestalled them and they aftewards generously wrote to us to say that the information and statistics which they had received amply justified the step which we had taken (hear and cheers.) We have also since heard that the foundation of a new bank was in contemplation amongst the colonists themselves, but there is no chance, I think, of its going on after the news arrives of our establishment here. It augurs well, however, for our shares, and that they will be well received in the colony, and that we shall receive the co-operation of a large and influential body of shareholders there, which, I was going to say, is almost necessary and indispensable to success (hear, hear, and cheers.) Mr Grabame, one of our directors, has proceeded to the colony, and on his way out he , writes home from the Red Sea to say that all the New Zealand gentlemen on board the ship in which he has taken his passage are unanimous in their deßirp to obtain shares in this bank (hear, hear). The next thing I have to tell you is that the bank is now ready to do business, in fact, to take any amount of business which may be offered to it (hear, hear), and we hope that the shareholders will assist the Board as far as lays in their power in influencing business. Although our paid-up capital has not been employed yet, it has not been unproductive, and our enforced idleness has been well met by the state of the money market, wbich has enabled us to obtain high rates of interest for our money on deposit, and which I hope will materially assist us in the formation of our firat dividend. Whilst on this subject, I will remark 'that , I hope the shareholders will, not raise their expectations too high (hear, hear)." I hope that they; will rather support the Board in their endeavor to make the shares a jjbund and substantial property, and in their efforts to establish a good and sound business, instead of trying^ by iorcirig business, to/ pay high dividends in the outset, the only of Vhich might be to pjethaturely raise the value of the jiareß in tbe market; xhiact to give them a (

fictitious value (hear, hear). lam sure that you have all been watching closely the value of the shares in the market; and we may all be content with the way their value has been supported. To-day they are quoted par to £ premium, which latter quotation on the amount up is equivalent tp a premium of 20 per cent., and you will be glad to hear that thoy are exceedingly well held (hear, hear). There is another matter which I have to mention. You will see by the report that we have entered into a provisional agreement with the Bank of Otago to take over their business, and I hope that if carried out it will give satisfaction to our shareholders. The basis of the agreement is a valuation of the assets in the colony by Mr. Burnes, I have therefore very little to tell you about it, because nothing can be done until his arrival out, which will be about the middle or end of February next, and nothing can be done here until March. You will see in the report that we have alluded to future calls.' We thought that the shareholders might like some information on this point.- The Board distinctly decline to pledge themselves on the matter, they only wish to shadow forth what may possibly occur. All I can say is that if ,no unforeseen circumstances arise, their will be no call before February or March, and possibly not then It depends upon two things which cannot at the moment be calculated —first, the amount to be paid to the Bank of Otago, and second, the amount of deposits which the public may entrust us with in the meantime. Gentlemen, in conclusion I will say that we publicly launch our ship on this occasion, we believe, well equipped and found in every way. We launch her in good heart and with confidence in her prospects, and I am sure I am speaking the sentiments of the whole Board when I say that no effort nor exertion shall be wanting on our part to make this National Bank of New Zealand a real commercial success (hear and cheers). Gentlemen, I beg to move that the report now presented be received and adopted and entered on the minutes. Mr Featherstone — I have much pleasure in seconding the adoption of the report. A Shareholder — May I ask at what premium or discount do the shares of tho Bank of Otago stand at the present time in the London market ? The Chairmax— l really don't know. I cannot say. Our bargain with the Bank of Otago is entirely without reference to the market value of the shares. The Shareholder— Do you propose to give any premium for the purchase of the Bank of Otago ; do you propose to give anything beyond the cash value of the assets of the bank? The Chairman — No, we do not. Another Shareholder — Do you propose to commence business before the arrival of Mr Burnes ? The Chairman — We have not waited for the arrival of Mr Burnes. We have made arrangements by which, even if he does not arrive, to carry on the business. The Shareholder — Has any provision been made for a substitute for Mr Burnes in the event of his illness or of any disaster occurring to him? The Chairman — Yes, the first has been provided for, although it is not judicious to say what has been done, but powers of attorney have gone out. I should like to mention one matter, in these days of " companies and companies." No promotion money of any fort has been paid by us, and all the preliminary expenses, including advertisments, legal charges, printing, Sic, up to the allotment of the shares have only amounted to JE27U (hear and cheers). A Shareholder — Is there any Bill before the House of Representatives affecting this bank? The Chairman— A Bill will be introduced in the first session of the General Assembly. Has any other gentleman any question to ask ? (After 8 pause) Well, I will put the resolution. The resolution was adopted nem. con. The Chairman — So far as I am aware, gentlemen, that concludes the business of the meeting. Mr. Joseph Robert Morrison — Gentlemen, before parting I think that it is only due to ourselves that we should concur in some expression — I would not say of thanks — to our Chairman and Directors for the able and judicious manner in which they have managed the business of the Company during the shoi;t time we have been in existence, but of our high appreciation of the auspices under which this bank has been founded (hear and cheers), and of our entire confidence in the Directors (hear hear). Gentlemen, the Board is composed in the fullest degree of all those elements which are conducive to success, namely, great monetary and commercial prestige, as well as wide and lengthy experience of the colonies (hear, hear). The names of Smith and of lioare, I think I may say, stand second to none in the banking world, and if Mr. Magniac only does for New Zealand what he has already done in China, the colony will have quite as much cause for congratulation as we shall have (hear and cheers). With regard to the staff, it would be premature indeed to say much on that subject, because I only know four of the principal officers. I judge favorably of the others from what I have heard. Speaking, however, of those with whom I am personally acquainted, I may say that their abilities and tried integrity are such as to disarm all criticism and to create high hopes of the future (hear, hear). I would only further remark that, looking to the exteat of emigration now going forward under the able superintendence of my friend the Agent-General for New Zealand, as well as to the great natural resources of that colony, I cannot but regard the establish m'ent of this bank at this time as most opportune, and as marking the commencement of a new era in the history of the colony (hear and cheers) ; in fact, as giving it an impetus such as it never had before (hear). Gentlemen, I move the resolution which I have already stated. Mr. R. Canton— l shall be most happy to second that. The motion was adopted nem. con., amid cheers The Chairman, in reply, said— Gentlemen, on behalf qf the Board and myself, I am extremely obliged to you for this mark of your confidence and approval. The conviction that such is the case will nerve us, if possible, to still, greater exertions than hitherto in our endeavors to promote the interests of the bank (hear and cheers). The proceedings then terminated.