FINANCE AND COMMERCE

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21908, 8 October 1936, Page 13

FINANCE AND COMMERCE

FAT SHEEP DEARER

; pULL TRADING IN INVESTMENTS

jm classes of sheep met with a good sale at the weekly fc-fc market at Addington yesterday. Wether hoggets were 2s bead dearer, and recovered last week’s drop. Ewes and hjjjjg were slightly bettei. Fat wethers were up "2s, and ewes 2s 6d* An over-supply of fat cattle caused an easing in that by £ 1 to 25s a head.

■' Shareholders in Hay’s, Ltd., agreed unanimously to an incase in dividend at the annual meeting yesterday. Several Shareholders expressed their appreciation of the good trading ■ potion revealed in the accounts.

The Christchurch Stock Exchange yesterday was quiet after tff-o days of good trading. Industrials were most active.

COMPANY NEWS

SYDNEY WOOL SALES

HAY’S, LIMITED

PCBIASED DIVIDEND TO BE PAID

FAVOUR

A dividend of 6 pei cczit. as against lor cent- for last year was decided Jjoat the annual meeting cf Hay's, which was held yesterday. There ias a good attendance, over which Mr review cf the year the chairman said; -lie balance-sheet figures ail show outstanding increase. Authorised capital is doubled at £50.000, while the capita! subscribeo is up. by £7651, at £2CW2. with calls paid in advance it £3864, an increase of £1453. Our JLts, land, and buildings are adnncedby £4BOO. at £25.073. less moneys £16.500. The mortgage on the Spinal building was reduced by £SOO jaring the year, and this is to be rerofed this and the next three years. Obt stocks are up £4377. and amount to £20,880, with an additional £722 worth afloat and paid for. The item debtors'£2o9s is the result in the main Of .our business with various institutions, credit houses, and sundry special trading. “The directors trust you will agree tilh tljon that the last year has shown taladdable improvements in the lt®e itself; we feel the'extension by the building next door has pwrally added an attractiveness with better facilities to display our goods, tod greatly improved the convenience cf customer: in their shopping. With our turnover increasing so rapidly, Jujer stocks are essential: these are »B new goods, and for the purpose of ear balance-sheet are conservatively lalued. “The profit of £2935 is an increase OB last year of over £9OO. We are imposing to ask your sanction to pay a dividend of 6 per cent., and those shareholders who subscribed for the MW issue .obtain something in the Sot a bonus dividend, as the paySBggested is at the full rate on 111 the subscribed capital. It must be n gratifying to shareholders, as it us, to note the progress made hi public favour by Hay’s, Ltd., in the dust period of the firm’s existence. -With our larger accommodation, le directors feel we should experience »farther expansion of turnover this jar. Although expenses, salaries and Wg*and taxation are. increased, we, waftproposc to alter the basis of OT selfing prices, but look to larger toamrer to cover these extra costs. ■Gwe are additional expansions in *kw, which we may be able to put Desperation during this year, or perhaps postpone until 1938, but the plans ate practically fixed, and will be anWfflced as soon as we can proceed. Tjghad the gratification of show-ntg-ntania’s Palace in the store durng April, and helped to produce the £Bl3 for the benefit of the Children’s Fund.” H- L. Bowker congratulated the ®“®«ors on the balance-sheet, and on “mg able to write off all preliminary He thanked the directors wtae higher dividend, but sugthat a good reserve fund be U P. before the dividend was ■SUo raised. k Hay, managing director, ■wjat much of the success of the TOation was due to the excellent i l r n l over shown a good S ™.™ aim was to increase it »d a S es J*TJ. Xiadsay that he knew of company in New Zealand toSL j 7. -^ >een to Increase its year ’ aad congratulated and directors on the com Pany had made. Mar iey was re-elected a and Meg srs W. E. Best and ■ were reappointed auditors.

3WCKY . LOGAN DIVIDEND

ITttE FSESS Special Service.]

October 7. kftte dwwiend at an unchanged taf per annum for the *«te^K^av d , AugUSt 19 > has been Sa* rea - b 7 M acky. Logan, Caldwell,

. PROPOSALS for zoning

GTAGO dairy company DIRECTORS meet

ifßtSa ASSOCIATION TELKCBAiI.)

. DUNEDIN, October 7. * meeting of dairy company direcrepresenting the five buttercompanies operating in tield yesterday to consider Of the province A cotwu * lon °t butter-fat supplies. was 561 U P to Prepare tor the Executive Comj Agriculture, which, it is will visit Otago and South-

Colombo tea auction

ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.)

„Hr L I* DUNEDIN, October 7. * fright has received the report on the Co®J*ction of October 6:—“ At 1»a auction of 1,250,0001 b. advanced one to two teas two to four •ha, good teas three to five cents. The quality of the •tie filing off. Next week’s bfeen catalogued for OP GOLD -J? iff i . ■ ijUK .LONDON, October 6. at £7 Is 7d a fine i^^Mfv^^ NDA^Thursday ’ ® ct- 8 MW^g^. : ApanioN Ltd., at their Booms. *»*--'*urnlture Auction Sale. ■HhlPv:'

DOLLAR MARKET BATES

MARKET IN SELLERS’

ALL DESCRIPTIONS BETTER ‘UXIXED PEE 33 ASSOCIATION’—COPTKIGIIT.) * SYDNEY, October 7. At the wool sales, 12,018 bales were offered, and 11,380 sold at auction. A further 2184 were sold privately. The market ruled in sellers' favour for all descriptions. There was strong competition from Yorkshire and the Continent. Greasy merino made to 21 id.

ANTWERP WOOL FUTURES

LONDON, October 6,

Antwerp wool futures are steady. Bry-ccmbed Australian merino tops are quoted at 27|d per lb for November, January, and April.

OVERSEAS EXCHANGE CONTROL

I TRADING BANKS’ POSITION

NEED FOR LONDON FUNDS

The fact that the new powers of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, combined with an extension of State marketing, would tend to concentrate foreign exchange emanating from New Zealand’s exports in the hands of the Reserve Bank embodies a principle that has found critics in many financial quarters. Recently the “Economist” pointed out dangers in the combination of central and commercial banking under one roof, while last week toe principle was strongly condemned before the Commonwealth Banking Commission. Discussing before the commission the suggestion that the Commonwealth Bank should aim at complete control cf exchange by taking over the London funds of the trading banks, Mr C. Darvail, general manager of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney, Ltd., said toe proposal was unsound. Such extreme power would act as an impediment to business and trade generally, and would lead ultimately to control of imports and exports and toe growth of an official exchange market.

“The results of the numerous national controls of exchange, which have nearly throttled world trade, together with their irritating formalities and restrictions, are sufficient warning,” said Mr Darvall. “If the Commonwealth Bank assumed control of overseas funds we should suffer loss of income for which we might not be able to recoup ourselves, to the disadvantage of both our customers and shareholders. We should also suffer loss in exchange. “Our London funds are vital to our business. They materially add to our strength and inspire the confidence of our depositors and of other banks, assist us in meeting our customers requirements, and afford a source of revenue while remaining very liquid, which enables us to make lower charges for our services in Australia. Deprived of control of overseas funds, our standing will be impaired in the estimate of overseas banks. The incentive to build up reserves overseas to meet adversity as we did to meet the last depression, will be lacking. We will be severely handicapped in meeting competition of banks domiciled outside Australia, and loss of either liquidity or profits must be expected.” .

ITALIAN EXCHANGE LOWER

DEALINGS RECOMMENCED IN LONDON

stock markets quieter

(BRITISH OFFICIAL WTEELBSS.) RUGBY, October 6. The feature of the foreign exchange market was the resumption of dealings in Italian lire, the rate being quoted at 92 toM. When lire were last dealt in, on September 25, the closing rate was 64|. The stock markets are quieter .but the tone is confident, the currency devaluations on the ntinent having cleared the air. British Government stocks are quieter following the _ani*-.unce-ment that the underwriting is about to take place for a tion 3 per .‘ent. loan of £0,000,000. repayable in 1958-63.

The Associated Banks H?! Bank of New South w c f ® s > q „° te a d N^w following doUar rates yesterday on a New Zealand currency basis. They are sunjeci to alteration, without notice. U.S.A. Canada, (per £1 (Per £1 N.Z.) N.Z.) Dol. DotS€Ul "\T .... 3.983 3.93 J O.D. • • • • 3932 3-94 Buy .. 3.97 3.962 O.D. '• -• 398 i 3-932 FRENCH AND AMERICAN EXCHANGE

LONDON, October 6. United States and French exchange closedto-day at: Dollars 4.91, francs 103 to £1 sterling.

Boneless Beef Criticised

FROZEN PRODUCE LETTER

LAMB PROSECUTIONS

IMPORTED WRAPPED MEAT COMPLAINT

(Fiioi! Oua Special CoEßEavoxnaxT.;

LONDON, September 10.

The London Office of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board continues to keep. a sharp eye upon a certain section of the retail trade in which a tendency is revealed from time to time to substitute lamb from sources other than the Dominion when Canterbury lamb has been asked for by the purchaser. In one Midland town recently, 18 summonses were issued against principals and their assistants in 10 cases cf misrepresentation, and convictions were recorded in nine cases, the defendants being fined sums ranging from 20s to £3, and ordered to pay costs. In the tenth case, the defendant was given the benefit of the doubt as to certain facts, and the summons was dismissed, both parties paying their own costs. The board has circularised the whole of tire retail trade and has announced in the two meat trade journals that some of the defendants pleaded that when the public asked for “Canterbury lamb” they really meant any kind of imported lamb, whether foreign or otherwise, and it might be as well, therefore, for retailers generally to realise that such a contention cannot be maintained. Mr R. S. Forsyth, C.M.G., has stressed the fact that New Zealand is jealous of the reputation of her lamb, and that he will not hesitate to prosecute any retailer against whom it can be proved that either he or his assistant has supplied lamb of any other origin than New Zealand when “Canterbury” was demanded.

Butter Marketing Scheme

Closer co-operation in the regulation of the future quantitative restrictions upon imports of butter and cheese mto the United Kingdom is sought in a Milk Products Marketing Scheme which has been submitted to the Minister for Agriculture by the National Association of Creamery Proprietors. Tne products covered by the scheme arc butter, cheese, condensed milk, cream, and milk powder. Farmhouse products are not included. The scheme will be controlled by the Milk Marketing Board, and Mr J. H. Maggs will be chairman of the provisional board which will handle the sciieme. After a public enquiry into any objections that may be lodged against the scheme, and its submission to parliament, a separate ballot will bo taken among the registered manufacturers of every regulated product, ana it'is hoped to bring the marketing scheme into operation on January 1. 1937. The beard will have power to fix maximum or minimum prices, or to prescribe prices for any regulated product, and may determine the persons to whom, or the agencies through which, products may be sold, and tne terms of sale. It may also negotiate the prices to be paid by the manufacturers for milk and other commodities used in the production of regulated products, and this is taken to mean that control will be exercised over the prices of imported supplies to see that they bear a reasonable relation to home prices. When the scheme has teen in operation 12 months, the board may fix quotas for any year on the output of any manufacturer of any regulated product. This is bound to affect forward buying from overseas shippers. Agreement has been reached between the Creamery Proprietors’ Association and the Milk Marketing Board that quotas for butter and cheese production should be applied only after consultation with the Milk Board. Contributions payable by registered manufacturers to the board will be determined by the milk gallonage converted into regulated products, and the levy must not exceed l-8d a gallon. Any producer who sells a regulated product otherwise than as determined by the board will be liable to a penally of £IOO, plus half the price at which the product was sold. It is estimated that the Milk Products Board will control the manufacture ot more than 300,000,000 gallons of milk annually.

Criticisms of the present methods of shipping boneless beef and cuts of other meats, and a plea for standardised imported joints, based on Smithfield practice for Home-killed meat, were voiced at the annual conference cf the Sanitary Inspectors’ Association by Mr C. Slatter, one of Smithfield’s principal meat inspectors. He urged that small pieces of imported meat m which the vital parts were not available for examination should come under the definition of scrap meat, and be prohibited from importation. Large quantities of boneless beef and veal were imported, and there they had many interesting cuts, but nothing standardised. The names on the packages were useless ns a guide, because often the same name covered two different cuts. Managers of cold stores found it necessary to undo the packages to identify the contents. The present joints to be seen at the ports might be described as “illegitimate” cuts, with varying inspectionable tissues. Sometimes certain lymphatic glands were present in the “mid-cuts” of boneless beef, and sometimes they were absent. He was not prepared to say that the exporters deliberately cut these joints in such a fashion as to exclude vital tissues from inspection, but an inspecting officer had a right to demand standards in joints upon which he could rely. Importers would welcome the adoption of such standards as would regularise the trade. He could not make any detrimental remarks upon meat inspection in the exporting countries, and they must all admire it when they considered the huge quantities arriving, and the small amount found to be diseased. On the other hand, they should be in a position to check the inspection, as undoubtedly on many occasions Great Britain had tightened up the inspection abroad.

Spending the Beef Levy Details as to how the levy upon imported beef will be used for the benefit of Home producers have been announced by the Cattle Committee set up under the Cattle Industries Acts of 1934 and 1935. The committee’s draft scheme provides for a subsidy to be paid in respect of steers, heifers, and cow heifers, under similar conditions as those in the Cattle Industry Acts. In addition, the animal must be likely to furnish a carcase up to the standard grade three (good) National Mark beef. It must be reasonably well finished, fat covering must be fair, and the beast must have at least a small amount of cod or covering fat. No payment will be made for any weight of more than 13cwt, and a cow-heifer is defined as one which has calved but has not grown more than six permanent incisor teeth, and still retains not less than two temporary incisors. The subsidy will be at a higher rate on a Home-bred steer or heifer, or other eligible which conforms to the following requirements:—lL shall not have grown more than four permanent incisors, and shall not retain less than four* calf teeth. It shall weigh not less than Bcwt live weight, and must have a killing-out percentage of not less than 57 per cent. (641 b to the cwt). It must be relatively short and stocky and uniformly fleshed, and the hindquarters must be markedly heavier than the forequarters. Buttocks, loins, and ribs must be well developed and rounded, the neck short and plump, and the finish excellent with the fat covering slightly “patchy.”