COMMERCIAL.

Evening Star, Issue 11892, 21 May 1903, Page 6

COMMERCIAL.

• ♦ —— The Woolshed Greek Company have purchased from the Mount Somen Coal Company their interest in the mine situated at the terminus of the County Council's tram line, about nine miles from. Mount Bomer3 ■"■''■■■ >taiion. ''.'■'

THE MARKETS. • Prwi Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, May 20. (Received May 21, at 9.35 a.m.) Copper: Spot, £63; three months, £62 10s. Tin: Spot, £132 .15sj three months, £133 ss. Lead, £ll 16s 3d. Consols, £9l 15s. At the wool sales fine merinoes were firmly. maintained, and cross-breds were occasionally harder. ' The Wajpori clip realised 10£ d, and the Elderslie 14d. Tallow: 963 casks were offered, and 517 sold. Fine mutton, 30s; medium, 28s; beef—fine 31s 6d, medium 28s 6d. Prices are nominal. THE MEAT EXPORT TRADE.EXPLOITATION OF NEW MARKETS. [Special to the-Stab.] CHRISTCHURCH, May 21. The Christchurch Meat Company have decided to make a new departure in the export of meat for England Next week they will send a shipment of meat for distribution outside of London. The company propose to send 14,000 carcasses of lambs and between 3,000 and 4;t)00 carcasses of mutton direct to Cardiff. This will be practically the first shipment to-Liverpool, Hull; and possibly Leith as. well. THE WOOL SALES. Proa Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, May 20. (Received May 21, at 12.57 p.m.) . .Competition was keener at the wool sale's for.all sorts amongst Home and Con tinenfal buyers. THE AUSTRALIAN MUTUAL PROVIDENT SOCIETY. JPreis Awociation—By TJegrapb—Copyright SYDNEY, May 20.—The fifty-fourth annual report of the Australian Mutual Provident Society for presentation- to the annual meeting of members on the 29th inst. has been issued. The amount of new business is once more of a highly satisfactory nature, especially considering the bad times which have been experienced in several. States owing to the drought. New policies have been issued to the number of 15,591, assuring £3,702,576, and yielding an annual premium revenue of £128,871 2s sd, the net gain to the volume of. business in force being no less than. £1,397,024. Claims by death fell short of last year's total by £34,500, and the experience in this respect is well within expectation. The usual searching investigation has been made into mortgage securities, and.as a result a further sum of £lO,Bll has been added to existing reserves for depreciation, which now stands at £256,040, and the sum of £B,BOO has been written off the value of office premises.' On the other hand, t a profit of £5,322 5s has resulted from sales of foreclosed properties during the past year. Prom the report of the actuary (Mr Richard Teece). it appears that the whole liabilities (with the exception of a few non-participating policies) have, as usual, been valued at 3£ per cent, interest, and it is announced that all participating policies issued after Ist January, 1903, will"be valued at 3 per cent., thus still further strengthening the present high standard of valuation. The amount of cash surplus available for division is £558,868, a considerably greater amount than has ever been distributed by the societj in a single year.* This will provide reversionary additions •to policies of members aggregating over one million sterling. The rate of expenses is again on an extremely moderate scale, being only 8| per cent, on the total receipts of the year. The effective rate of interest earned during the year stands at the highly satisfactory figure- of £4 9s 2d per cent.