FINANCE & MARKETS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 631, 6 April 1929, Page 12

FINANCE & MARKETS

THE LONDON MARKETS *ANK OF ENGLAND RETURNS ( Austrahan and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service) LONDON, Thursday. The Bank of England returns for the week ended April 4, as compared with those for the week ended March 28, are as follow: April 4. March 28. i, ; £ Note circulation . 414,045,000 41a,331,000 «'oin 159,294,000 158,160,000 Reserve 51,147,000 51,947,000 Govt, deposits .. 17,795,000 19,705,000 Govt, securities . 59,957,000 50,587,000 Other securities . 29,599,000 30,069,000 Other deposits . . 104,576,000 9-4,595,000 Proportion of reserve to liabilities .. .. 41.70 45.40 Short Loans and Sills Short loans, 4J per cent., same as last week; three months’ bills, 5 23-64 per rent., compared with 5 11-32 per cent, last week. Consols and Colonial Stocks The following table gives quotations for consols and colonial inscribed stocks, compared with those of March 28:— Price. Variation. £ s. d. s. d. Consols, 2i per cent. . 55 15 0 5 0t Funding Loan, 4, 196090 87 5 0 15 Of Wa r Loan, 5, 1929-47 102 7 6 10 01Conversion Loan, 3i . . 77 0 0 15 Of Com’wealth, si, 1922-27 98 15 0 7 6f Com'wealth, 6, 1931-41 101 0 0 2 6t New Zealand, 4, 1929 98 15 0 32 6* New Zealand, 3i, 1940 86 10 0 2 6f New Zealand, 3, 3 945 77 15 0 5 Of New Zealand, 6, 193651 105 7 6 2 6T tHigher. ‘Lower. Wheat, Flour and Pulse Wheat.—Cargoes, following upon North and South American advices, declined 3d to 6d. Demand quiet. Parcels are obtainable at similar declines. Liverpool futures: May, 8s 10$d per cental; July, 9s 1 3-Sd; October. 9s 3 7-Bd. Spot trade quiet, prices irregular. Australian ex ship, 47s 3d. Flour.—Dull. Australian, ex store, 35s 6(1. r»ats and Beans.—Quiet. Peas.—Slow, tending to be easier. Metal Markets ♦ Quotations on April 1 in parentheses.) Copper.—Spot, £B9 8s 9d (£94 2s 6d); three months, £B9 13s 9d (£95 Ss 9d). Electrolytic Copper. Spot, £lO4 (£T10); three months, £IOB (£111). Wire Bars.—£loß (£ll2 12s 6d). ,

Lead.—Spot, £25 17s 6d (£26 6s 3d); three months, £2o 17s 6d (£26 6s 3d). 1 Spelter.—Spot, £27 5s (£27 10s); three months, £27 3s 9d (£27 10s). Tin.—Spot, £2lB 11s 3d (£220 6s 3d); three months, £2lB 18s 9d (£221 lls 3d). Silver.—Standard, 25 7-8 d (25 15-16 d) an oz; fine, 27 15-16 d (2Sd). MORRINSVILLE DAIRY CO. > \ i*. 1 \ ADDITIONS TO FACTORY - i s (From Our Own Correspondent) j MORRINSVILLE, Friday. | Following the unanimous adoption by '• Its suppliers of a resolution that the capi- ' tal of the company should be increased to £60,000 by the creation of additional capital of the amount of £35,000, divided Into 35,000 shares of £1 each, the Morrinsville Dairy Company has commenced < work on extensive additions to its factory and plant. A new wing and stages arc to be added to the factory, and these will increase the floor space 2,500 ■square feet. The additions were made imperative by the large increase in output, particularly this season. Since the company’s inception in 1922 the average yearly increase in output has been 33 1-3 per cent. The completion of the additions will enable the factory to cope with an output of 2,500 tons annualtsw . C FOREIGN EXCHANGES British Official Wireless RUGBY, Thursday. The following rates on foreign exchanges are current to-day, compared •with the cabled quotations on April 2 and par:— April 4. April 2. Par Montreal, dol. . N. York, dol. . 4.85 7-32 4.85 7-32 4.866 Paris, fr. . . . 124.20 324.20 124.21 Brussels, belga 34.95 34.495 35.00 Geneva, fr. . . 25.215 25.225 25.22 Amsterdam, fl. . 12.10 i 12.101 12.10 Rome, lire ... 92.70 92.75 92.46 Berlin, r.m. . . 20.485 20.465 20.43 Stockholm, kr. . 18.175 18.175 + 18.159 Oslo, kr. . . . 18.195 18.195 18.159 Copenhagen, kr. 15.215 15.215 18.159 Vienna, sch. ... 34.525 34.53 34.581 th-ague, kr. . . . 163 J 1633 24.02 Helsingfors, m. 1922 1923 192.23 Madrid, peso. . . 32.195 32.125 25.225 Lisbon, escu . • 10SJ 108 Athens, dr. . . . 375 375 375.00 Bucharest, lei . 8151 816 25.225 Rio de Janeiro, mil 5 27-32 5 27-32 B. Aires, dol. .47 5-16 47 5-16 47.57 Calcutta, rupee. 17 31-32 17 31-32 18 Shanghai, tael . 304 303, Hong Kong, dol. 23g 232 Yokohama, yen 22 1-16 22 1-32 24.58 Batavia, fl ... 12.15 12.15 12.10 CLEARING -SALE PRICES The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, Hamilton, report:— “We held a clearing sale during the week on account of A. Watkinson, near Xgaruawahia, when there was a large attendance, and keen competition ruled throughout. Dairy cows realised from £lO 5s to £l4 10s for early calvers, later ditto, £8 to £9 10s; an average of £lO 3 *s for the herd; Jersey heifers in calf, £9; weaner Jersey heifers, £5 7s 6d; Jersey heifers in calf, from a client, £12.” CHICAGO WHEAT (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.7 a.m. CHICAGO, Friday. Wheat.—May, 1 dollar 18 cents a bushel; July, 1 dollar 21J cents; September, 1 dollar 244 cents

POTATO MARKET QUIET POSITION IN CANTERBURY ONIONS FOR AUSTRALIA Press Association CHRISTCHURCH, Friday. The wheat market has been fairly active and a good volume of purchases has been made at 5s 8d on trucks for Tuscan, the bulk of the sales relating to “free” wheat. The definite indication that returns will not be up to earlier forecasts i$ stimulating a little activity on the part of millers. Fowl wheat is quoted at 5s Sid a bushel, f.0.b., for prompt delivery. This season there is little wheat offering that does not conform to milling standard and the fowl grade is consequently scarce. A grade Garton oats are quoted at 3s 4id to 3s 5d a bushel for prompt delivery and B grade at 3s lid to 3s ' 2d. Quotations on trucks are 2s Sd to 2s 9d for A grade and 2s 5d to 2s 6d for B grade. There is very little offering at the present prices, farmers preferring to leave their oats in stack. Algerians are unsaleable, although there is no rush of offers. The North Island trade, always a good one until a few years ago, has dwindled to microscopic proportions. Chaff has been the medium of some business, but the price remains consistently at about £3 15s a ton on trucks and £5 15s f.0.b., s.i. There is little change in small seed values. Cocksfoot is worth 8d a lb to the grower, perennial ryegrass, 4s to 4s 6d a bushel; Italian, 3s 3d to 3s 6d; white clover, Sid to lOd a lb; and cowgrass, 5d to 6d a lb. Offers of rather good quality Marlborough cowgrass are being made at 8d a lb, but this figure is beyond the ideas of local merchants. The potato market has not changed over the holidays, except that the consignments going North are steadying the inquiry from that quarter. The Waipiata sailed during the week with 2,400 sacks. Up to £4 5s a ton is quoted on trucks for “prompt” and £4 for April deliveries, but growers are not responding to these offers which are up to 15s a ton less than a week or two ago. The f.0.b., s.i., price for April is £5 7s Gd to £5 10s. The position of the potato trade in the meantime is that merchants are acting cautiously and growers are confident that prices will advance. Onions are unchanged at £5 a ton on trucks. No word has been received from Sydney as to bow the New Zealand consignment arriving there at Easter has fared. The Karetu leaving next week is expected to take another lot of about 100 tons.

YELLOW CABS OF AUSTRALIA j RETURN OF CAPITAL l ' t An extraordinary meeting of share- j holders in Yellow Cabs of Aust., Ltd., has c been called for April 9, to consider pro- J posals for returning portion of the capi- \ tal of the company to shareholders. f The directors propose to repay to share- \ holders 5s on each of the £l, fully-paid, shares, and 2s 6d on the 10s paid shares, and also to reduce the nominal value of 1 the £1 shares to 15s. That will involve the payment to shareholders in cash of approximately £IOO,OOO, and a reduction of the paid capital of the company from £401.220 to £300,915. In a circular to shareholders, the chairman of directors, Mr. Maurice Smith, states that the steps which are being taken to return portion of the capital which is in excess of the company’s requirements, is in conformity with a policy the wisdom of which the directors have had under consideration for some time. “When the company commenced operations with yellow taxi-cabs in Melbourne and Sydney,” the report continues, “it was recognised that taxi-cabs were a wasting asset, and that the only businesslike policy was to allocate a fixed percentage, based on the running mileage of each cab, to a depreciation fund, to replace the value of the wasting asset. It was not known, however, at the time, at what rate the cabs would depreciate in actual use in Melbourne and Sydney. Experience had shown that the cabs in the company’s fleet have a longer life than was anVidpated, and the further requirements of the company’s business in Melbourne and Sydney enable the company to hold in reserve a number of its cabs, so that it will not be necessary to purchase additional cabs for replacement for a considerable time to come. “In addition to the accumulation of a depreciation fund, certain of the company’s freehold properties, which are not required for its operations, are in course of realisation and conversion into liquid form, and as there does not seem to be anv possibility of these funds being required for the purchase of cabs, or for other purposes, the directors consider that the onlv course consistent with sound trading is to return the excess capital to shareholders.” FEILDING STOCK SALE DEMAND FOR FAT SHEEP Press Association FEILDING, Friday. Although the fat sheep entered at the Feilding; sale to-day were not of the highest quality, there was a sharp rise in prices, estimated at up to 4s a head better than last week. The yarding was n °Fat woolly lambs sold at 25s 3d; fat ewes, 25s Id” to 275; black face two-tooth ewes, 33s 6d to 345; fat wethers, 29s 3d to 30s 6d; four and five-year store ewes, running with Southdown rams, 24s 3d; wether lambs, 21s Id; ewe lambs, 19s lOd; two, four and six-tooth ewes, running with Southdown rams, 2Ss 3d; black face lambs, 15s 8d to 16s lid; four and six-tooth and four-year ewes, to 32s od; two-tooth ewes, 36s 7d. Cattle were yarded in small numbers, 1 and were slow of sale. Dairy heifers ' realised £8 10s to £9 16s; store cows, £4 15s; weaner heifers. 35s to £3; hulls, £7 7s 6d to £9; fat cows, £6 7s bd to £9; heifers, £7 15s; forward steers. ; 7s 6d. THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY The output of the Matakana dairy factory during March was 20 tons 14cwt, bringing the season’s total to 258 tons 13cwt, against 1£ tons 9cwt and 204 tons 12cwt, for the corresponding periods last 1 season. # The Rodney factory is rapidly approach- • ing the end of its season and skeleton ■ cream collecting services are being run. Last month the make was 11 tons 2cwt against 9 tons . 6cwt for Maxch. 1928. making the season’s total lot tons 9ctt t, against 126 tons 4ewt for the eorresponding period of last season. The a l * s " tribution to suppliers last month at Is 4id a lb butter-fat, was £1.344 13s 4d, against £1.036 3s lid for March 1928, when the rate was Is o&d. The total pay-out for the present season amounts to £19,927 6s. compared with £10,9~8 11s Sd. JERSEY CATTLE DEMONSTRATION (From Our on Correspondent) MATAMATA, Friday. The Matamata Jersey Club held a demonstration day on Mr. J. F. Vos per s property on Thursday afternoon. The club secured the services of Mr. E. Griffiths, a well-known Taranaki breeder, and his discourse was listened to attentively by a large number of adults and the Junior High School boys. Mr. W. H. Miers supplied the cattle for the demonstration, and the boys were ' called upon to judge a class of four heifers. Mr. Griffiths also placed them and explained his reasons for doing so. Mr H. Lewis, president of the club, urged , all those interested in the breeding of Jersey cattle to join up with the club, thereby assisting the club and, indirectly, themselves. ’ PRICE OF GOLD (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.35 a.m. LONDON, Friday. Gold is quoted at 84s llld an ounce.

C.O.D. SYSTEM TO END

GOVERNMENT’S PROMISE ASSISTING UNEMPLOYED Press Association WELLINGTON, Friday. A definite indication that the cash-on-delivery system for overseas parcels was to be abolished, was given by the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, when replying to a Labour deputation which waited upon him today in regard to unemployment. “We want to see the rising generation are given work,” said the Prime Minister. “We want to keep as much money in the country as possible, and only to-day the Cabinet decided to give definite instructions .-to withdraw the post office as a channel of competition against the traders. It is only one of a number of things we are trying to do.”

BOOSTING N.Z. BUTTER CAMPAIGN IN CANADA A persistent campaign of advertising New Zealand butter is in progress throughout Canada, and the Antipodean variety is in great demand, especially for its superior quality, and another factor in its popularity in the Dominion is the fact that it is placed on the market by retailers at a price lower than the domestic product. In most cases the difference in price is four cents, or twopence a pound cheaper than the butter made in Canada. A large number of chain stores, especially the Thrift Stores, Limited, “The Better Food Stores,” are inserting large display advertisements in the daily Press featuring New Zealand butter, one reading in poster size type: “New Zealand pasteurised butter, fresh from green pastures. Why eat storage butter? Wholesale price, 42 cents per pound.” Alongside this advertisement are the words: “Prices to entice you—and quality to keep you.” “Producer to consumer prieefc” The “Stop and Shop” chain stores, “The Better Chain Stores Groceries,” also are boosting the New Zealand butter importations into Canada. This big grocery organisation has advertisements in the daily papers, averaging ten by eight inches in size, as follows: “Extra special: Just arrived in Montreal, our first shipment of New Zealand butter 41 cents ,per pound. Imported direct from our Sister Country, makers of the finest butter and known the world over as having the finest dairies. Favourable climatic conditions in New Zealand give us the opportunity of offering a uniform grade and fine texture of fresh-made grass butter. wrapped under our well-known brand, Silver Leaf. Just try a slice of Stop and Shop bread with New Zealand butter. Positively delicious.” Comment on the foregoing would appear to be superfluous.

GOOD FENCERS SCARCE GISBORNE FARMERS’ PLAINT (Special to THE SUN) GISBORNE, To-day. Although there are hundreds of unemployed in the cities, it is difficult to obtain men with a good knowledge of farming, complains a Gisborne farmer. This is especially true as regards fencers. He believes the scarcity of farm labour is due to the younger generation seeking employment in the towns. There are from 24)0 to 300 men seeking work in Gisborne, but they want employment on the railway. Farm work has no attractions for them. There is a general renewal of fences to be done now—hundreds of miles of it —but experienced fencers are scarcer than ever.