COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 32, 7 August 1919, Page 10

COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL

Evening Post, Thursday. Business has been fairly brisk in the investment market. Writing on the basis of yesterday's quotation: Bank of Now Zealand £3 6s 8d shares have been in good demand at £14 10s, and fully paid shares had buyers at £18 10s. Union Bank shares were very firm, and Kales wore made at, £61 ss, cum dividend. National Bank had sellers at £6 10s and £6 10s 6d, and not much doing. Bank of New South Wales have been more or less neglected. Bank of Australasia weronot a feature of the market of the past fortnight, but they sold in Dunodin yesterday at £129. Tho "sensation" lias been and ia the strong riso in tho price of N.Z. Refrigerating to. s ehares. The tallow market has been pointed to as one explanation for tho keen public interest in these 6hares, but it would appear that there is rather more than tallow needed to explain tho advance. Sales have closed at £410s in Christchurch, and buyers were offering that figure for these shares. On 2nd June they stood on the Wellington list at £2 16s 6d buyers, £2 17s 6d sellers. On 11th June buyers offered £3 Is. Then the advance began, and on 21st Juno sellers held for £3 10a; 6ale3 were reported at £3 7s 9d on 11th July, and on 23rd July £3 10s was offered, holders standing for £3 12s. On Monday last £3 14s was sellers' price, ex div; but yesterday buyers wero prepared to pay £4, and sales closed at £4 4s. It is understood that the demand is mainly from Dunedin. From tho same market comes an increased interest in P. and O. Deferreds, consequent on the improvement of the London price to £525 j and sales in Dunedin at £490 -were reported as going through. There has been a big turnover in Huddart-Parker shares at £2 3s 9d yesterday for ordinaries.. Melbourne ia a keen, enquirer; and the interest is attributed to revival of merger rumours. New'Zealand Insurance have now settled down to £110s to £1 10s 6d,' business having been done at those figures. South British sales at £8 2s are spoken of; and business in Nationals at £4, with more wanted at that figure., Westport Coal shares have weakened, probably in view of the industrial situation. Sellers are prepared to part at £1 Ss 6d, but buyers seem to have disappeared. Portland Cements, as represented by Wilsons, are easier at 16s sales; Golden Bay have buyers at 19s 9d, no sellers. Gas is no't attracting much attention from investors just now. All Woollen shares are wanted; sales are few and far between. Colonial Sugar (New ZealandFiji) have advanced. There is renewed local interest in Waihis, a reflection of London business. Talismans and Junctions are quiet. Mount Lyell sales at £1 6s 3d are thought to bo due to tho improvement in the price of copper.

The Mercantile Mutual Insurance Co. has applied for the Australian Federal Government's authority to increase the subscribed capital of the company to £300,000 by tho issue of 50,000 additional shares of £1 to be paid up to 10s each. The intention is to offer tho new shares to shareholders at par in the proportion of one to five shares held. The company's reserve is £66,147. It pays 12^ per cent.

WOOL.—Cablegrams -received. by local firms with respect to tho closing prices of the London July sales concur in reporting a. f&ll of S per csnfc. in fins crossbred and of 10 per cent., in tho price of nil other descriptions of crossbred wools. On account of the difficult railway conditions it is probable that tho next local crutohings valuations will bo deferred, as there is not enough of this olass of wool in 6toro to warrant a. valuation being held this month. Usually from 2500 to 3000 bales are available at .this time of year, but there. a.ro only a few bales in each store, amounting to not more than two figures, all told. The railways are not carrying wool at tho present time, consequently the brokers will not have sufficient to offer to the valuers.

DAIRY PRODUCE.—There Is still a scarcity of , fresh butter in Wellington, a.nd some retailers are- selling not more than ono pound: to ono customer at a time. A little new season's' is available, but it is relatively microscopical in view o£ the demand. The Wellington trade, however, is likely to be kept-going, but1 with difficulty. Mail advices from.' tho United States show that Canada can dispose of all the butter it can produce at fancy prices to Europe, also that Germany . will absorb at high rates all that Sweden and Denmark can supply. Montreal (dOth May) reported grass butter as realising 56 to 56j cents, say 2s 4d to 2s 4i<l. With respect to cheese, the local market is now utilising export sizes, tho popular medium being almost impossible to obtain. Tho reported sale of tho Canadian exportable Gurplus make of cheese to the Imperial Government at 25 cents per pound, or Is O^d taking the dollar at its normal rate, has no doubt given local cheese manufacturers much to think over and talk about in viow of their price to the same purchaser, viz., IOJd. The contract has yet to Tun until 31st July, 1920, and much may happen between this and then'; but ehould tho Imperial Government desiro to purchase again it is probable that values at least on a parity with what Canada has received will be asked, for.

MARGARINE.'— Jurgens, Ltd., tho great margarine manufacturing firm, has just issued 1,000,000.7 per cent, guaranteed cumulative participating preference shares of £1 eacli. The issue was. greatly ovor-eubscribed. The * authorised capital o£ tho company is 2,000,000 ordinary £1 shares and 2,000,000 7 per'cent.'cumulative participating preference shares of £1 each; also 1,000,000 ' ordinary shares owned by Anton Jurgens, Vereenigde Fabrikon. Of these shares over 950,000 were subscribed for in cash at par. The new preference shares not only carry a 7 per cent, dividend, but i per cent, extra for every 1 per oent. of dividend above 7 per cent, paid on ordinary shares. Anton Jurgens United (Margarine) .Works, of'Oss, Holland, guarantee the 7 per cent, dividend. Tho company was incorporated in November, 1914, for the purpose of continuing tho Jurgens business in Britain and manufacturing in the United Kingdom. The company will proceed with tho completion of its factory at Purfleet, Essex, and when finished it will probably be the laTgest margarine factory in tho world. Pressing of nuts and eeeds for oil and refining is one of the chief works of the company in connection with its margarine manufacture. Tho not profits of the Anton Jurgens VeTee,nigdo Fsbriken for 1913 were on £1,333,333 paid-up capital, £227,343 paying 20 per cent, on ordinary shares; in 1918, on £5,042,760 paid-up capital, £647,890, paying 15 per cent., but carrying forward £303,828. The company hopes to -reap full advantage of tho high price of butter opening the way for increased use of its margarine substitute, and invasion of territory where butter formerly ruled ■■suprepe when its price was on a pre-waj basis.

HlDES—Extremely high prices were realised at the Wellington sales last week for all lines not selected by local tanners under tho fixed price schedule. It ia stated by brokers that tanners obtained lines at 12d and 13d which were fully 65 per cent, under what the market justified. It is reported that many of tho. butchers have resolved to hold over all hides in viow of the possibility of the conditions under which tanners have the pick of the offerings at a fixed price being abrogated. Freezing companies, too, are said to be holding back heavy lines of hides for the same reason, hides which would otherwise bo exported. On account of tho.revision in tho prico schedule o! hides not y«t having been made, no calfskins are coming into tho local sales.

TALLOW—The market has assumed a rather quiet tone at Homo, and it is made evident that buyers are now wanting shipped some o£ the high-priced purchases they have already made. There is held to bo quite a lot o? freezing workßtallow still in the country. At the local sales' last week tallow prices were on a parity with those ruling' at tho previous Wellington offerings.

HEMP.—The market is very dull at tho moment. On Monday, high point fair was worth in tho vicinity of £29 per ton only. The demand is very erratic; ono day there is a Kennees to buy and tho next buyers all withdraw. There is, however, a RUieraUy vtnaHar toadrmcy. Pie-* ductwn is steadily improving, Most of

the mills _in the Wellington district are now running, but anxiety is felt as to the future despatch by rail of the manufactured article when it begins to assume normal dimensions. Tho weather has been unkind of late, and this in some measure has prevented anything like an alarming accumulation at tho mills. The maximum output has not yet been reached, taking the time of year into account. Cablegrams have been received with respect to nenequin, or Mexican sisal, to the effect that the Mexican Commission has been abrogated by the Yucatan Legis- , lature, and the fibre is now on an absolute ' frco market in the United States, and takes its place there with New Zealand and other fibres. The Department of Agriculture reports that tho total bales of hemp graded during July was 3574, as against 9742 bales graded July, 1918, and 4il bales tow, as compared with 2131 bales for tho corresponding period. For the twelve months ended 31st July, 1919 and 1918, the following are total gradings: — Hemp. Tow. Bales. Bales. 1918 - 171,085 35,151 1919 106,475 15,655 Decreases, 1919 ... 64,610 19,496 GENERAL GOODS.—Cables from Singapore show a rise there of id per pound on mace, Id on nutmoge, and peppers unchanged. Tapiocas are reported advanced 15s per ton. American fencing wire, judging from a cablegram received from New York last week, is advancing rapidly _in price. A further advance of turpentine by 9d por gallon .is cabled from New York. Resin has also taken a further sharp rise. Messrs. Arbuthnot, Gillanders cabled from Calcutta to Brown, Dureau, this week, to the effect that the jute mills had decided to work for four days a week only up to 31st December next, and five days a week to 316t March, 1920. The chief reason given for this action is the heavy accumulation of stocks of all descriptions, combined with tho_ great scarcity of shipping space offering. The. Waitemata, direct for Now Zealand porta, is duo here with juto goode early in September. Cased meats are reported to bo passing through a dull time in London just now.

TEA.—The. Calcutta market at latest .advifeG3 _ indicated the maintenance of high prices. At the Colombo sales on Tuesday last catalogues totalling 2,300,000 pounds of tea were to be offered. The sales Jast week showed a falling off in quantity, but a decided improvement in quality. There was an abnormal demand for all good teas, and high quality teas were reported as having brought extreme prices. • The tea stocks in New Zealand are now running very low; in fact, some packing houses are ■ supplying orders pro rata, and confining themselves to regular customers; It is_ estimated that on a most conservative basis there are between 2GOO and _ 2500 tons of tea piled up in Sydney awaiting transhipment to New Zealand.