PREFERENCE SHARES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1336, 13 January 1912, Page 5

PREFERENCE SHARES.

0 GREATLY OVER-SUBSCRIBED. 1 By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Sydney, January 12. The applications received for Uie preference shares in the Ifiiddart-Parkcr Shipping Company were seven and a-lialf times over-subscribed, arid tho ordinary shares ttvelve times. - It has been decided to make the minimum allotment fifty and tlio maximum five hundred shares. After allotting certain Gharcs essential in tho interests of the company, tho balanco were ballotted for. Fifteen thousand went to .\'ew Zealand, and 25,000 to Australian ports, exclusive of Sydney and Melbourne, which tako GO,OOO and 150,000 respectively. Melbourne, January 12. Tho new issue of shares in tho Howard Smith Shipping Company has been fully subscribed. In conncction with the flotation of preference shares in Huddart-l'arkur, Ltd., which was such a pronounced success, applications boing received . for 2,'iJ7,-!0G shares,' while only 230,000 were offered for subscription, Messrs. Harcourt and Company, the local brokers, report that the allotment list has come to 'hand, and Wellington applicants wero advised by post of tho number of shares allotted to them. As a largo proportion of thoso applying for shares will of necessity be disappointed, Messrs. Harcourt and Company quote tho following extract from a letter received from the superintendent of the company as showing the difficulty experienced in making Hie allotment: "I just wish to send you a lino to say that the. task which tho public have set us by their large over-suWription has been a very difficult one, but wo have done tho best wo can, using tho ballot freely. Many applicants will be disappointed, and this we regret. It was impossible to give to cvory applicant; unless wo wcro prepared to issue a very low number of shares, and in regard to this, wo fixed the minimum as 50, and tho maximum as 500 in either class. Wo are afraid that we may havo missed some to wham wo would like to have allotted shares, but the work has.been dono under very great pressure, occupying tho whole of the holidays—morning, noon, and night—and if wo have missed anybody we can-only express our regret, but wo had to take into consideration tho vcrv largo amount of money which was locked up, and which wo wished to release as soon as possible."