BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 285, 25 April 1913, Page 5

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

THE NEW CAPITAL. ' Per Press Association. Wellington, Thursday. Mr. Harold Beauehamp, chairman of the Bank of Xew Zealand. savs( with reference to the statement attributed' to Mr. Watson at Auckland, that he and his colleagues were opposed to the suggestion that 'the first issue of ncw capitnl should be at a premium.. "I think it my duty to .say at oiuie thtft no such opinion luvs (teen expressed by Mr. Watson's colleagues. It is pretty generally known that he and Mr. Martin Kennedy, the representatives of theshareholders, maintain that >' ?vi shares created l>v the bank should b- issued to shareholders at par, but to p;cvent undue- inflation in the value of existing shares, it would be well for buyers to plainly understand that this view is not. shared by other members of the Board, including myself. Having regard to the earning power of the bank and its large reserve and individual profits, together with the value of its goodwill, I cannot conceive why Messrs. Kennedy and Watson should expect to carry out an inequitable and unbusincsu-like 1 proposition. If as a result of their ad'vocncy, shares were issued at par, the height of improbability, it would be tantamount to presenting existing shareholders with a bonus of approximate!}' Cii 13s 4d per share, that is the new shares were called up to £3 Os Bd. There is no justification for that. 11l any issue presented to Parliament for their ratification the interest- of the Bank and the State should unipeationably be paramount."