Finance Stocks and Mining

Free Lance, Volume IV, Issue 204, 28 May 1904, Page 5

Finance Stocks and Mining

THE repoit and balance-sheet of the Colonial Mutual Life Assuiance Company had' not reached the colony up to the time of writing, but -the cabled mfoimation regarding the annual meeting goto to show that the Society has had a very good yeai. Then c" was an men ease of business, an lnciease of receipt*, and a decrease in death claims, thiee items that speill success. r , The balance-sheet of the Alliance Assurance Company for the year 190 d shows in the fire depaitment a net pie™S mcome of £889,138 and losses paid and outstanding £387, 304. Alter Riding . f« undeiwiiting profit of £190,11 /.intei est on funds swelling the total to 1311,902. From profits from the various accounts the company declared dividends equal to 10 & per share, amounting to £232 812. The fire insurance fund a^ecates £2.126,164, and the balance afcredit for loss on fire account £461. 801. # The report of John Dewax and Sons, Limited ir. striking evidence of the pron able character of the Scotch whisky trade The balance-sheet fo, the year 1903 shows that the amount at the dgT>os ai l of the doireotois totalled 1^ islOd which has been appropriated as serve fund (making it £100.01)0), £10 000 directors' salaries and income tax' £^418 4* 2d and balance carried forward. £n.6fi2 17s 8d A fair tmde is done in this colony in Dewai s whisky • * * The London money maiket is showing an excellent tone, the open maiket dascount rate for fine trade papei having fallen to below 2 per cent Until the bank rate falls to the traditional bedrook level of 2 per cent , as was the case in 1896 it uould be scarcely right to say that money * a& cheap as eve. However, the indications of the week are favourable, even the market tor gilt-edged securities showing an improvement. Imperial Consols and several denominations of colonial stocks are appieciaibly higher. • • * The outlook is not as cleai as could be wished, the chief dangei-s being political n their character. The effeivescent Balkan provinces may at any moment explode, a,nd there is the prospect also of complications whan the '. a.« Eastern war terminates, and lie Powws aie called in to vise the et'l<nients. Tn the meanwhile, there - a prospect, if the war is prolonged, of Russia making further demands on the Continental money markets. These arc factors that must not be overlooked. At the «arne time, they aie no-t so foimidable as to cause ailarm. • * * Coming nearei home, it is reported n \ustraha that there is sufficient moaey nvailable for all legitimate! business pui poses, and, provided the demands of the State Governments are kept within moderate bounds, there is no likeMiood of money being dearer. There is, however, a" maj-ked industrial depression thiiougjiout the Commonwealth, which may ultimately cause a disturbance to the labour markets of the colonies. • * * Here and there we have leports of men being unemployed, and considering that there is an influx of the workless from Australia, these reports are not to be wondered at. Probably, there is not th< same full measure of employment fon the increased number seeking work, but we ai c far from feeling any depression . It is not an exaggeration to say tdiat there is an abundance of money in this colony seeking investment, and no niofitnshowinor enterprise need ask twice foi monetary assistance. The winter may be quiet, but, notwithstanding this, the current year will show a fair meavuie of prosperity • • * The improvement in the shaiemarket reported last week seems- to continue, and brokers are less despondent. The fact is that those with money to invest have got over the nervousness occasioned by the outbreak of war. They see now that money will not be dear provided the demands of the colonial Governments are not excessive, and consequently are investing their funds as best they can. The demands for bank shares is fair, buyers' bids being £4 9s 6d for Nationals, and £4 10s for Batik of New Zealand.

Financial shaies continue quiet, and building shaies aie not as, stiong a& they weie Equitable aie wanted at €9 but theie aae no seller at the price. Wellington Building shaies are ofFeied at £p 7b ()d and Wellington Tiust and Loan at £7 .js. The quotations liowe\ei appear to be above buyeis ideas of i ailue. New Zealand and __ River Plato shai es had quittance at 2."5 sand tiic demand is unsatisfied. * * There is more enqunv foi ga® sluaies, possibly because of the near annroach of the half-yearly dividend disk lbutiiom . Thei c are bids of 20s for F eliding Gas , £4 10s 6d for Palmers-ton North Gas, and £17 los foi Wellington Gas, sellers of the latter asking £18 5s Auckland Ga.s snares are offered at £14. but there arc no buyers looallv at the price • # * Insuianice shares maintain a lemarkable firmness in face of the known heavy losses since the beginning of the yeai . Nationals are wanted at 21s 6d, Standards at 17s 6d, and Soutli British at £6 6s New Zealandis are offered at £4 10s The State. Fire Insurance Depaitment is expected to commence business on the Ist July, the offices being located m Gre<y-street, near the Po^t Office. Underw l ltei s are in no way alarmed at the prospect of State competition. On the oontrarv some of them look forward to being able to iid themselves of the risky iodides. ♦ * * Freezing shares ai c quiet. The companies aie not doing the same volume of business as last year, consequently theie is a belief that the dividend's will show a shrinkage. Gears take first place in the favour of investors, and the £4 paidup shares sold at £6 15s, while for the £1 paid-up shares there are bids of £1 14s. The interim dividend of this coinpanv- is due in the course of ai week or two. Ohristchurch Meat shares ai c wanted at £10 7s 6d Other shares are unchanged. • * • In the miscellaneous section, sales we reported of Taupiri Coal at 18s, and Westporti Coal at £6 18s. Maunoeville Lime shares chaaiged hands at the satisfactory price of 265. There ai c bids of £8^ 6d for Manawatu Rails, 18s for Taupiri Coal, £6 17s Bd for Westport Coal, 17s 6d for Avondale Buck shares, 37s 6d

>i Leyland and O'Bneii Timber shares, <ukl £4 18s fox AVaid and Co. Brewery shares. Duimg the past week or two tlio'io kaye been scvera.l sales of the biouon shaies, which is significant. • • ♦ It is pleasant to be able to say that there is a distinct lmpi ovememt in diedgmg shares. On the Dunedin Exchange foi weeks past a few sales have W« recorded each day and the volume has inoi eased latterly. Now it is ieported that enqumes are being made for small parcels of the best-known diecl2in,cr shaies which is extremely emeouraeinig. The returns recently have been vei y satisfactory* the average per died-e beano- good, while the aggregate i, as in one or two instances, gone above 2000oz. Fuithermore, many of the dredcreis have shown three^figure _ retuins. Intel est in. mining is reviving, and wi.l'l mciease in stieneth this winter.