COMPANY AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 90, 18 April 1927, Page 4

COMPANY AFFAIRS.

I BANK OF AUSTRALASIA. HIGHER DIVIDEND-14 PER CENT. ' (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, Maroh 4. The tale of universal bank prosperity is carried on by the Bank of Australasia, the directors of which announce a final dividend- on the issued share capital of £4,000,000, in £5 shares, of 7/6 per share, free of tax, equal to 7M: per cent, making a total distribution for the year of 14 per cent, as against 13 per cent, free of tax, the rate paid for the previous six years. Moreover, while the interim payment for the past year was made in the form of a dividend and bonus, the final payment is made as a dividend outright, a point which adds to the satisfactory impression made by the large distribution. A sum of £50.000 is transferee! to reserve, and £40,000 to bank premises; in each case these allocations are £10,000 less than for 1924-25. The balance carried forward is £3,000 larger at £135,508. From these figures it would appear that the net earnings for the past year amounted to about £653,000, the largest the bank has ever shown, compared with £633.000 for 1024-25.

Seeing that the increase in the balance carried forward, at £133,508, is virtually the same as that in the previous year, and that the additional dividend of 1 per cent absorbs an extra £40.000, it would appear that the net profits during the year showed an expansion of £20,000, to say, £6.52,500. The reserve fund, inclusive of the above appropriation, will stand at £3,810,000.