COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2807, 27 June 1916, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

. . -• . ■ INVESTMENT SHARES. ,'Yesterday's quotatons for investment shares were as under:— "'-. Buyers. Sellers. ■••■■ £ s. d. .£s.d." national Bank. .: ■ — . 5 10 0 Well. Trust, Loan, Ltd. .. •—, V ! 0 Well. Gas £10) : 14 7 6 1415 0 Union Steam (ord.) — 1 12 9 Well. Woollen (ord.) - 6 10 v Waipa. Coal 0 18 3 — Taupiri Coal .'... — 014 0 Westport-Stockton '060 063 Leylond-O'lirien 119' — Scoullar Co. .-;. 13 6 - -: ■ ..Customs duty collected at. the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £2866 ■■' fo 9d. • ; . *};■ WHOLESALE PEODTJCE PRICES. ~,.Messrs. Laery and Co., Ltd.,'Allen Street, report wholesale prices as follow:—Fowls' wheat, prime, ss. 3d. per bushel; fowls' , barley, I}. 3d. per bushel; Cape barley,

4a.-9d. per bushel; partridge peas, 6s. 6d. per bushel; maize, feed, ss. 3d. per bushel; chaff, oatsheaf, £6 ss. per ton; oatBtraw, £4 ss. per ton; hay, clover. £6 55.; flour, in sack, £13 55.; oatmeal, £18 10s.; bran, £6 Ss.: pollard, £8 15s. to £9: potatoes, seed, Northern Star, £6 15s. per ton, Up-to-Date- £6 155., Gamekeepers £6 nlss.; bacon (all best factory), Eides ls„ rolls Is. Id., hams Is. Id., shoulders 10cl.: ohecse (factory), medium lOd. per lb., loaf 10td.; linseed nuts, £13 10s. per ton; linseed ground cake, £13 per ton; rice pollard, £6 15s. per ton; onions, i Victorian, , brown Spanish, £8 per ton; potatoes,whitetable, South Island, £7 10s. to £8 ss. per ton.

HIGH COMIIIfiSTONBII'S MARKET . , BEPOKT. ■ . ■ Tho Department of Agriculture, Industries, a'jd Commerce hai received the following , dated London June 24, 1316, from the High Commissioner for New Zealand. (Note: Quotations, unless otherwise specified, are average market prices on spot):— ' Moat—N.Z. mutton and lamb are in small supply, but there is a, large demand. Prices remained unchanged. Lower prices are being accopted for Argentine mutton and lamb, owing to increasing supplies of Home-killed mutton and beef, and Argenttas beef. I\ T .Z.'mutton, B&A. per lb.; ewe mutton, Bid.; Argentine mutton, lOld.; JI.Z. lo.mb, 9Sd.; Argentine lamb, Hid.; N.Z. biiU beef, hinds, 7Jd.; fores, 7d.; Argentine chilled beef, hiiid-3, 9jd.; fores, Bld. Butter.—Market i 6 quiet but steady. Danish, salted, 17te. to 178s. per owt.; Siberian, stocks oto light, 1345. to 1405.: Irish creamery, salted. 158s. to 1625.; ■ unEOlted, 1625. to 1645.; Australian, market is steady, salted, 15fc.. to 1605.; N.Z., market is steady, taltal, 168s to-170b.; good to fine quality, salted, 1645. to 1665.; Argentine. ma.rket is steady, salted, 1545. .to 1665.; unsalted. 158s. to 160s. Ohcose.—Market is weaker, and tendency downwards. Canadian, weak market, white, 986. to 102s. per cwt.; coloured, 98s. to 102s:; English Chedda.r, market quiet, 106s. to 110s.; N.Z. market is much weaker, and thero is less demand. Prices are irregular. Higher prices refer to sales made earlier this week. 'White, 102s. to 1065.; coloured, 995. to 1045.; States Rats, White, 965. to 1003.; coloured, 965. to ICOs. Hemp.—Market is quiet, with a tendency in favour of buyers for forward shipment, caused by reports of a large supply and largo shipments from Manila. Good fair N.Z.. per ton, £48 10s.: fair, £47; Government, graded fair Manila, £50; coanse, £48- June to August shipment: Good fair K.Z., £47 10s.; fair, £46; Government graded fair Manila,' £48; coarec, £45. The output of hemp at Manila for the week ending last Saturday was 17,000 bales.

Wheat.—The market is weak and inactive. Canadian, arrived, 485.; afloat, 495. Oats—The market is very quiet. Argentine, arrived, 28s. Wool.—The market remains firm. Army Council -is purchasing English wool clip for military, purposes. WHEAT AND ELOTJK. By Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright London, June 25. The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for the United Kingdom is 2,830,000 bushels: for. the Continent,' 4,655,000 bushel?. Atlantic shipments total 774,000 bushels; Pacific, nil. The total for Europo is 1.480,000 bushels; from India, 90.CC0 bushels; Argentina, 152,000; ar.d Australasia, 127,000. BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES ANNUAL REVIEW. / ' # WHEAT SCHEME'S OPERATIONS. The half-yearly, meeting of tho Bank of Now South Wales was held at Sydney'on Tuesday, May 30, the Hon. James Thonlas Walker in the chair. In moving the adoption of due report and balance-sheet the chairman said:--"Tho fieures in the balance-sheet show a large'expansion over those of March, 1915, and a considerable increase as compared with September, 1915 which you will see. as I refer to in'dividual items, is in some measure due to tho war. Notes in circulation- have increased £87,000, caused by a- more active use of our note issue in New Zealand, where, bank-notes constitute the' paper currency of the Dominion. The total amount issued, however, is not unduly large in relation to the business and turnover of the banks there.; In Australia our notes are slowly coming in from circulation.

"Deposits are higher by over £2,000,000 on the year, but only some £630,000 on the half-year. When we consider that during the year,, two large war loans have been floated in Australia, the effect on our. deposits has been remarkably small. The increase is nearly all in the current accounts, and the cause may be found in the abundant harvest, the high prices of pastoral products, the large war loan, distribution of money locally, accompanied by an evident disposition on the part of banking clients to, refrain from new enterprises, and to hold on to their funds till tho outlook is clearer. The item of £1,076,000 under the heading 'wheat scheme' is a special. account, earmarked for expenses in-connection therewith. Bills payable ami other liabilities are higher by £4,360.000 on.tho year, but only £1,640.000 on the half-year. Much of this is due to war conditions. Our selling exchango business has active, for though it is possible that the quantity of imports has been reduced, high prices and high freights havo more than counterbalanced, and there have been considerable importations of sugar, the drafts for-which havo swollen the figures. This item includes the Commonwealth Bank balances. These are higher than at March, 1915, owing to war loan- operations, but they ere lower than at September, 1915.

Tho asset side of tho balance-sheet naturally reflects the.liability side. What Wo regard as our first line of liquid assets shows the large total of £51.151,000. as against £25,873,000 at March, 1915, and AW.IWO.OOO at September, -1915. -Of this about £10,000,000 is represented by gold .coin, .which is. much the same as last year. Australian , notes held were £7.305,000, • an- increase of £2.750,000 on th« year, but a decrease of £2,000,000 on the

half-year, owing to advances under the wheat scheme referred to later on, Government securities stand at £5,517,355, which is higher than last year by £1,182,000, and this is duo to our participation in British and Commonwealth war loans. As a matter of fact our contribution to the war resources- in those directions exceeded £2,000,000, but this was counterbalanced to some extent by the repayment of 6ome ol the other Government securities wo held. As regards war loans, wo have taken these at cost price, which has been the course adopted by most of tho larger British banks. Other securities under this heading have beeu taken at market price or based on an Interest rate equivalent thereto. The item bills receivable in London, or on the »»> there, consisting of bills maturing at short dates, and drawn for produce shipped, show an increase of £1,790,000 on the year, nigh prices for produce and our participation in the wheat scheme operations have caused this expansion in our buying business, which is a phase of our operations we take every opportunity of cultivating.

"The wheat scheme operations show an aggregate 'advance of £3,148.000. which is shown separately. . When it became certain that tho wheat crop of Australia would reach an unprecedented quantity, and that there would be much delay'in handling it owing to freight and othor circumstances, tho Commonwealth and 6tato Governments approached the banks to assist in financing the scheme. The majority, including the Commonwealth Bank, agreed. Tho basis is an advance to the farmer of 2s. 6d. per bushel, with the addition of 6d. per bushel lor expenses of placing on boaxd ship. After the realisation of tho whole crop any surplus will be distributed among the farmers from whom the wheat has been derived. All advances are to be cleared off ..by the end of the year under the guarantees of the Commonwealth and State Governments. As the wheat is shipped it is drawn for against tho bills of lading in the usual way. Tho amount standing in our books represents the wheat still awaiting shipment. The effect of the business has been to provido the farmers with some money to carry on with and tho banks with .useful London cover.

"Tho ordinary advances of tho bank are approximately £760,000 less, almost entirely due to receipts of farmers for their wheat, and to large returns from pastoral products. The profit and loss shows a slightly larger credit balance. The policy of the Australasian banks since the war began has been to keep rates as low as they reasonably could, in view of the conditions prevailing. The larger turnover and the activity of business, however, coupled with the employment of some of the money we usually hold in reserve in cash balances' by participation in the war loans account for tho increase in profit shown. We are asking, your consent to an appropriation of £20,000 for tho Buckland Fund. As to this- fund I may repeat for the information of new shareholders that it was instituted by Iho late Thomas Buckland, a former oresident of the bank, by a personal gift of £1500, to meet cases of jieeessity arising in "connection with the staff not coming within the- scope of the pension fund to which they contribute. Tho bank, with shareholders' consent, has supplemented the original gift by large donations from tiino to' time, and the fund has performed a very useful, function in relation to our largo staff. We foresee that the war may bring some of the many men who hdvo volunteered from our own ranks, or their dependants, within its scope. There will, Of course, be no indiscriminate distribution, but each necessitous case will bo dealt with.on its merits, and shareholders may rest assured the money will be carefully bestowed. And we are also recommending a reduction of the amount carried forward, and its appropriation to tho credit ot the reserve fund.

"I must'say a low words in conclusion, about :tke staff.'.. Some 445 have volunteered and been accepted for the front.. I regret to say that 23 have been killed, died, and missing.. Your sympathy, with ours, will, I am sure, go out to their relatives, and friends. Great credit is duo to those who have been left to carry out the work of the bank under short-handed, conditions. Wo have filled up the staff as far as wo could by taking on ] amors, the training of whom involves considerable work on'the part of the.older men. And we have also made a new experiment hy taking on a certain number of women for clerical duties. lam pleased to sny this- hew departure has worked well, and that this section of the staff has also responded well to the duties entrusted to tnom.and have earned much credit by tho apt wr,y in which they have fallen in with banking routine."