ANNUAL MEETING

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21146, 23 April 1934, Page 13

ANNUAL MEETING

! BANK OF AUSTRALASIA t ENCOURAGING SIGNS I (rao.u uci; ovx corhlmi'onuk.v ;.,> j LONDON, March 23. j On the occasion of the hundredth anj nual meeting of the Bank of Austral - ' asia the attendance of shareholders ' was much larger than is usual at or- ; dinary annual meetings. Mr Arthur | Whitworlh presided. The chairman explained that as the i bank would not have completed its j hundred years of business activity ■ until next year, the board had decided ! to leave it to his successor to give n | full account of-the history of ths bank i since its inception. ! Explaining the balance-sheet. Mr j Whitworth said that deposits at inter- | est—that is. fixed deposits—were down I by over £1,000.000. mainly due to a rej duction of £450,000 in the amount of | special deposits that have been lying en the other side awaiting remittance. Any reduction in these special deposits is a source of satisfaction, as they could not be considered good money for absorption into the genera! advance business. Current accounts were up over; £700.000 —an increase well spread ; throughout the business with the ex- j ception of Tasmania, the increase in ' New Zealand being particularly satis-1 factory. On the asset side the cash position, j including Treasury bills, was much stronger than it need be. This was due i t) the difficulty in obtaining suitable j outlets for surplus funds. i British Government securities were clown by £140.000. due to maturities; of Treasury bonds, and Australian ; Government securities were also down I for the same reason. An interesting j detail of the year's working, which j ilia balance-sheet did not show, was the ; exchange transactions throughout the; year for customers were substantially! up. due both to increase in prices and i volume of business. ' The liquidity of the position is that for evei'.y £1 of ths current accounts j they had 13s 9d in specie. Government i notes, and cash, and for everv £1 of total deposits < £37.533.000> 9s 2d wa'= , held in the form of specie, cash and ■■ securities of the highest class easily; realisable. ' ;

Net Profits Up "Gross profit," continued the chairman, "is down by £48,000, but, with a reduction in charges of something over £37.000. mainly in taxation, our net profits are up; tips alone would not have justified us ir increasing the dividend for the year by .'. per cent, had we not found it unnecessary to provide so much against doubtful debts as wc have had to do in recent years. As the same lime as the dividend is raised we are increasing the carry-forward to £175.105. I'niav also tell you that the strength of the bank in its injier reserves is bein:' fully maintained." The chairman then dealt at length witli the financial position of Australia and of New Zealand. Stable Kxclianjrc Rates "The- impression 1 wish to eonvev " said Mr Whitworlh. "is that there'is a material improvement in tlm present position and m the outlook for Australia and New Zealand, and that Ihe financial and cemmercial slrueture is ready and capable or taking advan f age of every change for the belter in world conditions. These, however, to-day ; ,re based so much on political factors as to make prophecv m regard to them difficult. 1 foresee that the Commonwealth Bank and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will play an important part in controlling exchanges, and that in future rates will become more stable:, so that the margins between buying and selling, which at times were wide and profiable to the banks in the- past, will be much narrower.

"Tho banks must look to increasing trade from an increased population if their earnings arc to come back to what we were accustomed to in prewar days. At the moment, with the cessation 01' Government assistance to immigrants, the How has actually boon revc'-serl. for there were nearly 5000 departures registered in the yea'r ending September ,'!0 las!. Further encouraging signs are improved quotations for tho ordinary shares of Australian companies. The Orient .Line, on its last year's trading, was able to resume the payment of dividends on its ordinary stock, and there are indications tvat seasonal visitors from Australia to this country during this summer will be well up to the figures of former years. "In this connexion you will be interested to hear that we shall shortly bo vacating the premises of our West End branch during the rebuilding of the Royal Empire Society, where tenants we are. but in due course wc shall return to premises altogether more commodious tvian those we now occupy. In the meantime, the branch will be temporarily located in premises in the same neighbourhood." POL I.TRY PRODUCERS, LTD. and Vi.,i,.v i.r-r. c,,ii*k'>]iiiei,i.i ..; Y'mj-'v vr:c let.- hod. J!uv,-s v.-,.;.. ,:i lull ul.!rn.i----an-.i ui.d bidrHn- tlin..i-!...nt tic s.iltM v, a , !;.-rn, i .irtidiliirlv let Ijoii.v.i and v.-i !l-l'i. i.:!:.-d c-liickcn. tl.a |.p...'S .valh.d bcinr f,:t:pf.Hi..rv. Tmbvs „;.- n.v.v .mnin.. furv.:,rri tlior.; f'criv and a:- u.cctin- v.nl, a '(•a Iv d.-iii-.licl. The Ml.juiiir :u<- the i>,i-<s i ■■ i.'iod i, i.ai • : ( hirVoi : I 1,-iiw, -,i|.„,h •■'. ■Vol. al (1 i::ili-.l I",. !.. Is (..I: I'. d . '.,, ■m la. r supply, and :■,!,/,s-d „;, ,o (;, ,; I . '■■•-">. i:i cood y. ,';•. an- ruh-d n., I , ■n '! !. IJoil.o.s. it, „vv. <i. I!'all ! .;.■■ d . |...1-, a«al .<■«!;. no to /- ::d >r.< ii.on i , l>i.;. h. lair s,.i.pi,. ; ,„. r >,!;■< -I „,> l, u :: I. I)ni-l:liiv.rs, in pi'mi • cn'idiOM. !.- j : ii-.-d in, to 7s; li/ 1.1, mi |., Is. V«-ji rli .i : j l-f •■■<- A I'M- . r .to . I :],■ -■ ■ v. ■ ■ <.ir r.d ami r.-.1;.--'(i no to . r ,s (Id. Vu ki-ys : I'ii.n • naiisrd up to i-i •*■■•■ y--. ; rV :!a.l;c' Mai'!, n.. i Td. t ;■■■■ '. in 1 : ■ ~;,!■:. nl-f<l. I'ncrs l-t v.. i: .mi n ■ I'rday j April -U: Firsts Is 1 Id, sr-onds Is Td. C, I