FINANCE AND COMMERCE

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21867, 21 August 1936, Page 13

FINANCE AND COMMERCE

RESERVE BANK FIGURES

BRITAIN’S INCREASING TRADE

The most interesting part of the Reserve Bank figures this

week'ls the appearance for the first time since the. bank began ' operations of an advance by the bank to the State. The -amount is shown at £49,400; and iis probably the-^result'bf the first payment by the Government for dairy produce, al- | though, of course, there are many other possible explanations.' The note circulation is shown" at £58,900 higher. De- . mand - liabilities to the State hafe increased by £121,900, and those to the hanlis have decreased by ' £174,200 a Other : demand liabilities are showri at £63,000 more. On the assets side movements are small, except that other assets are shown ■ v at £26,200 more.

Figures compiled by the Board of Trade show that industry in Great Britain is expanding -encouragingly,' A striking advance has been made m the amount of trade be- ' tween Britain and the Dominions.;;

Butter has reached 121s per cwt in Ldndon, and cheese Is a: 70s, and both markets are strong. There has been an almost uninterrupted rise since early last month, and the outlook continues good.

,WORLD S LARGEST EXPORTER

W. R. CARPENTER

NEW ZEALAND DAIRY ‘ PRODUCTION SALES OF BUTTER AND CHEESE New Zealand, in 1935, for the first time figured as the world's largest exporter of both butter and cheese, accorPing to “Dairy Produce Supplies in 1935,” a survey just published by the Imperial Economic Committee. Of the imports into the United Kingdom in 1935 the Dominion supplied 28 per cent, oi the butter and 65 per cent, of the cheese, but accounted for slightly Jess of each than in 1934. Imports ol New Zealand pork reached record figures and accounted for 54 per cent, of the total supplies of that commodity last year. Although imports of dairy produce, poultry and pig products into the United Kingdom in 1335 represented 28 per cent, by value of the total imports of food, drink and tobacco, the aggregate quantity of those imports was appreciably less than in 1934,states the report. Dairy 'products resisted the depression rather longer than most agricultural commodities, hut prices continued to decline in 1934, when many farm commodities were showing a reversal of the downward trend. In 1935, however, the prices of dairy produce rose more than those of agricultural products in general. Total Imports of dairy, pig and poultry products in 1935 cost £3 millions more than in the previous year, following a decline of £2 millions between 1933 and 1934. Butter imports by value were greater than those of any other single article of food, although bacon was displaced by wheat for second place. The share of Empire countries in the imports of dairy produce and allied products has increased in recent years, and record proportions of butter, hams, pork and lard were entered last year. Coincident with this development, production in the United Kingdom itself has tended to represent a growing proportion of the total supplies available for consumption. | of butter ? world Trade increased by 2 per cent, to a record figure in 1935. Imports into the United Kingdom, amounting to 9,600,C00cwt valued at £33,300,000, were 1 per cent, less in quantity, but 18 per cent greater in value than in 1934, and accounted for more than four-fifths of world Imports of butter. Supplies from Empire sources comprised 57 per cent, of total imports and were greater, both proportionately and in actual volume, than ever before. In spite of increased P£“es, the consumption of butter, in 1935 Was maintained at the previous year’s,record level of 25.21b per head, a figure 6.51b greater than in 1930. It 15 interest to note that , the per ca P, Q t consumption of margarine, estimated s at 8.41b in 1935, was Jib heavier 1934, though nearly 3|lb below the 1930 figure. World trade in cheese has declined years. Imports into the United “JJJgdom in 1935, amounting to 2,700,000 ere 9 P er cent. less than in 1934 smallest since 1922. Empire. Julies declined, but accounted for 88 PK|_cent of total imports. Imports of fSterK mUk were red--?d by a S2** 6 ? 0 ' wrth in recent years of an condensed milk of tn Jr n . gtiom manufacture, mainly Empire ‘ 15 a feature °f of eggs entering intertifiWteL trade has decreased by oneDorts Hi* . five years - Dut imS fc the United Kingdom in 1935 ri 6 , “PP er , greater than in 1934 mai-v million dozens. Denial snri C tu n H d * or on e-third of the 2i Empire supplies for only Co “ Pa red wifh 31 per in th<^TT^ - ? P r i v . loUS year - Production Sited Yul ted itself also dsalthough accounting for twofnPPlies, and consump--150 have declined from 193 5 i ggs a h ead in 1934 to 147 in .l he comprehensive rtSLiefHf+u for the United Kingdom, ProC nf^ external trade *n dairy and f,?® countries are inteea<aiK,= j a H° an account of the ®eats*)r th2 Pted by foreign govern®*rt£S?«J Upp s t of the industry, K l£ the mi i k and bacon marconsidered 6 ! 0n H™ 6 su PPlies - is c °nnexioir +li°H e -, detail and » in this factory n iJ? e + - strikin S expansion of in the °v-° n j of milk Products Seated. Ed is clearly in-

ZEALAND BUTTER IN LONDON

, ? NEWCASTLE GAS .

TO 121/- PER €WT.

i£nS*l adv:ce received in Christ7Jfterday gave the price of butter on th 3 London % Cnt , \ 1 “ ls Per cwt, an advante of Price' S ® a §°> and 10s OH Cb**- * the beginning of July. Vanes 'Jf at 1705 i° r white, an ad•4 cn °. n the week, and of 10s ,b® 4 P rice at the beginning of as W °° lh mar hets were described s / x weeks the butter inade a steady advance, 5 fortnlflL? ceptlon of a sfigfit setback , ag0 ’ - a . nd renorts W— * ■ to make a „ Portion is strong enough ' Jtolity firmness a proufoinW uP°tfier factor has been the & th l United States in mu f h will depend on the. of orders from this f n v ba *l adv ? nced even more sattwo filter, and for the I fc&CetJ. r wf ons that butter has adllNpicjn artf S r ocks in the United and reports, from Bpbe a u! te W the United .States jsoufce 6r buyer t han USU£d

COMPANY NEWS

W. R. Carpenter and Company, Ltd., r.n island produce merchant company, reports a net .Profit of £68,079 for, the year ended June 30, compared with £48,684 the previous year and £30,392 for ' 1933-34. The dividend is maintained at 8 per cent, on the increased capital, the distribution requiring £47,363. A sum of £15,468 is transferred to replacements and renewals account. £4OOO to contingency account, and £2500 to superannuation account, leaving £4830 to be carried forward, against £6082 .brought forward.

During the year the company bought the ordinary shares of Brown and Jpske. Ltd., of Suva, and registered the Southern Pacific Insurance Company, Ltd., of which it holds all the shares. The directors state that the full benefit of the new capital will not be reflected in the accounts until the next balance-sheet is issued. .They add that shareholders must view the company as a parent company, and that before bringing figures into the accounts,_ reserves and contingencies are provided for in branches, subsidiaries, and associated companies. Of c ™ any ’ s capital approximately £„09,000 is invested in Commonwealth bonds, subsidiaries, and associated companies.

ELDER SMITH AND CO., LTD

Accounts of Elder Smith and Company, Ltd., for the year ended June .30 show a net income of £165,277, compared with £145,675 for the previous year. To past year’s income is added £141.215, the undivided balance from the previous 12 months, making- a total of £303,492. Dividend is 6 per cent, (interim and final each 3), compared with .5 per cent, in 193435, and accounts for £143,618.

F. T. WIMBLE AND* COMPANY

Profits of F. T. Wimble and Company, type-founders, etc., of Sydney and elsewhere, continue to rise steadily, being:£42Bo higher at £21,620 for, the yerr ended June 30. After providing. JJ4QOO prefer-, c-nce" |.ne i; rchaining profit equals IS per cent, on ordinary capital. Ordinary dividends have been raised from 8 per cent, to 10 per cent., requiring £9770, and leaving £7650 of the year’s profit in the business.

HIGH TAXATION RATES

Addressing shareholders at the annual meeting of Mort’s Dock and Engineering Company, Ltd., in Sydney last week, the chairman (Sir Kelso King) said: “Ine period under review has been one of encouragement in the engineering department. There has also been a marked increase in ship repairing, but. only a' very moderate increase in the use of the docks for cleaning and painting of ships. The primary reason for this is the cost of our labour, which is so much in excess of what it is on the other side of the world.

"The plant,” he continued, "has beep maintained in a condition of /high efficiency, and further improvements and additions have been made. This is necessary, and must be continuous. It is only by pursuing this course that it is possible to meet competition so active and aggressive in the business in which we are engaged. . “Taxation, including municipal and other rates, and workmen’s compensation premiums, has amounted to £8782, compared with £7727 paid last year, and represents about 45 per cent, fhe year’s net earnings, a burden which presses on this, and generally on all industries. In this connexion we are led to expect some relief in primage and sales tax, and possibly in land tax. but taxpayers are asking for consideration in respect to emergency taxation brought in for the special purpose of producing revenue to tide the country over the period cf depres'-ian.’

_Sir 1 _lso Kihg said that the sale of the section of the business known as Harrington s had resulted in a surplus of £6848, which has been regarded as an increase in capital and added J857 788 reSerVeS ’ whicb now star; d at

“If we are able to judge from conilcLd durin § the last 12 months, added the speaker “I would regard our prospects as being satl ? factor y- During the period wofk P for S Hfr thS lifficultyl ifficulty was to fin d work for cur employees. Now condito a finH he ~ v . erse> and OUr difficulty is to find sufficient skilled labour to complete our contracts.”

ai^ an of directors of the VC nurl e m G -rf /^. d „P°^ e Company, Ltd. (Mr T. D. O Sullivan), at the annual meeting in Newcastle, said that “fie company's sales of gas cookers had increased by 67.6 per cent, in the year finded. June 30, sales of gas coppers bv 49.5 par cent., and sales of gas fires by 31.6 per cent. Sales of the company s gas had shown an increase cf 1ft.000,000 J cubie feet, compared with an increase of 11,000.000 cubic feet the previous year. A further increase was probable during the current year, and the works were equipped to handle an additional lead of 33 per cent, on ■pro. sent outmit, with little more than The cost of the extra, coal carbonised.,

DOMINION BREWERIES CAPITAL £TBB PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND. August 20. ; Dominion Breweries, Ltd., proposes to raise an extra £45,000 capital by the issue ef 40,000 ordinary shares of -XI at a premium of 2s 6d,. The offer is, being, made in th©. first instance to sharehdld&ir’s in the 'proportion of onb‘ share for every three shares held.

RESERVE BANK FIGURES

WEEKLY STATEMENT ASSETS AND LIABILITIES (FKXSS ASSOCIATION? TBLEOSAM.) WELLINGTON, August 20. A Gazette issued to-night contains the following statement of the assets and liabilities of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as at the close of business on August 17:— ‘

MORE RAILWAYS REVENUE

SMALLER INCREASE IN EXPENDITURE

IPEF.S3 ASSOCIATION TBLIOBAU.) WELLINGTON, August 20. The railways working account for the four-weekly period ended July 18, 1936, is:— Rev. Exp. Net Rev. Section. £ £* £ Kaihu . . 254 657 *403 Gisborne .. 1,000 1,568 *568 North Island—main line and branches . . 266,788 256,652 10,136 South Island—main line and branches .. 170,655 174,084 *3,429 Wesiport ~ 6,186 4.855 1,331 Nelson .. 889 1,592 *703 Picton .. 1,642 2,288 *643

Total railway operation .. 447,414 441,696 5,718 Miscellaneous services .. 61,324 37,410 23,914 1 Total 508,738 479,106 29,632 *Minus. - The total revenue from April 1, 1936, to July 18, 1936, was £2,233,553, and the total expenditure was £1,8J3,853. The net revenue was £339,700. Totals for the corresponding period last year were;— Revenue £1,990,171, expenditure £1,726,496, net revenue £263,675.

DAIRY COMPANY BONUSES

AMOUNT OF £897,069 TO BE PAID OUT HAMILTON, August 20. Bonuses totalling £897,039, an increase of £253,743 on the amount paid last year, after making allowance for share deductions, will be paid to suppliers of the New Zealand Co-opera-tive Dairy Company, Ltd., on August 31.

MANAWATU PAYMENT OF £250,000

PALMERSTON NORTH August 20. Dairy factory bonuses for last season, totalling £250,000, are being circulated in Palmerston North and the surrounding district by eight butter companies to-day. This is expected to five a marked stimulus to business, he figure excludes payments by numerous cheese companies. There is a possibility of, still further payments when the proceeds of the final realisation come to hand.

LONDON SHORT TERM MONEY MARKET

LONDON, August 19

Discount and short loan interest rates are:—Day to day loans, i per cent.; fine trade bills, three months; 2 to 2J per cent.; bank bills, three months 9-J6 per cent., six months i per cent.; Treasury bills, two months i per cent., three months J per cent.

FOREIGN EXCHANGES

LIABILITIES £ S. d. Cl) General reserve Fund 1,500,000 0 0 (2) Bank notes 10,829,589 0 0 (3) Demand liabilities— (a) State 6,659,982 9 4 (b) Banks 5,610,285 18 7 (c) Other 160,266 11 1 (4) Time deposits .. (5) Liabilities in currancies other than New Zealand currency (6) Other liabilities 89,779 13 10 Total 24,849,903 12 10 ASSETS (7) Reserve— ■ (a) Gold 2,801,733 0 0 (b) Sterling exchange 19,487,694 8 9 (c) Gold exchange (8) Subsidiary coin .. 184,686 8 11 (9) Discounts— (a) Commercial and agricultural bills (b) Treasury and local body bills (10) Advances— (a) To State or State undertakings 49,433 16 8 (b) lo other public authorities (c) Other (11) Investments 2,038,324 9 0 (12) Bank buildings (13) Other assets 288,031 9 6 Total 24,849,903 12 10 Proportion of reserve (No. 7 less No. 5) to notes and other demand liabiiities, 95.826 per cent.

(BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.) Paris, fr. to £1 ' RUGBY, August 19. Par. Aug. 18. Aug. 19. 124.21 768 76 29-64 New York, dol. to £1 4.866 5.028 5.038 Montreal, dol. to £1 4.866 5.028 5.031 Brussels, belgas to £1 35 29.811 29.83 Geneva, fr- to £1 25.2215 15.42$ 15.44 Amsterdam, fl, to £1 12.107 7.401 7.41 Milan, lire to £1 92.46 628 632 Berlin, relchmarken to £1 20.43 12.50 12.50} Oslo, kr. to £1 18.159 19.90 19.90 Stockholm, kr. to £1 18.159 22.341 22.341 Vienna, schgs. to £1 34.583 261 263 Prague, kr. to £1 164.25 1211 1213 Helsingfors, marks to £ 1 193.23 229 229 Madrid, pefeetas to £1 25.2215 393 40 Lisbon, escudos to €1 110 - : 110 3-16 110 7-16 Athens, drach to £1 375 529 029 Bucharest, lei to £1 843,6 674 674 Belgrade. dinars 25.2215 22.0 22.0 Rio de Janeiro, pence to milreis ,. 4.899 41 43 Buenos Aires, pence to dol. 51 Montevideo. hence to dol. 51. 3813-16 38 13-16 Bombay, pence to rupee 19 181 18} Shanghai, pence to dol. • 14 13-3? 14 13-32 Hong Kong, pence to yen • 1429-32 14 29-32 Yokohama. pence to yen Batavia, ■ guilders * 14 lrl6 14 1-16 12.107 7.36| 7.37} .Warsaw, par ' zlotys to £1 43.36 _ •Determined by price of silver. ,