BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 June 1912, Page 4

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

The very satisfactory position of the Bank of New Zealand, as disclosed by the balance-sheet presented at the general meeting yesterday, must be gratifying not only to the shareholders but all interested in the -progress of the Dominion ; for the progress or otherwise of our leading financial concern serves, as it were, as a barometer to indicate the prosperity of the Dominion as a whole. Great capital has been made by the Opposition Press of the fact that the deposits- for the year were less by £2,052,878 than those of the previous year; but this apparently great-falling off was satisfactorily explained to the Chairman in his address yesterday. He then pointed out that the decrease was due to the reduction in the Government credit balances, whi.ch, in the former balance sheet, had been abnormally large. There was, also, a satisfactory increase in the ordinary deposits both fixed and free. The decrease, of £3,394,080 in the money at short call in Government and other securities, was accounted for by the reduction of the Government balances and the tightness of money in the Dominion necessitating a. considerable amount being withdrawn to accommodate customers in the Dominion. The reserve fund has increased from £81,294 in 1906, to £1,200,000 to-day. One very commendable feature of the 3 T ear’s work was a strict adherence to a cautious policy- The Bank simply refused to handle anything at all savouring of a <; wild cat scheme,” and in consequence the losses for the year were exceedingly small. In this respect Die Directors have recognised the good work done by the officials, and have rewarded them by giving them a bonus of 5 per cent, on their salaries. The Bank is still continuing to extend its operations, and during the year six new branches and seven new agencies were opened. The profits —Ihe item on the balance-sheet with which the shareholders are principally concerned— amounted to £386,182 5s lid, .and from this £40,000 interest on guaranteed stock has to be deducted, leaving a- total of £356.182 5s lid, of which £305,587 13s 5d is available for distribution. The dividend on preference shares was fixed a.t 4 per cent., making 10 per cent, for the year and the bonus on ordinary shares 3 per cent, (making 15 per cent, for the year). The. present Board of Directors vis composed of men in whom the shareholders have the utmost confidence, and in Mr- Martin Kennedy, an old and esteemed West Coaster,’ they have a man of sound business instincts and a shrewd financier, trained in the best of all schools, that of experience.