COMMERCIAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 May 1931, Page 8

COMMERCIAL

ADDINGTON MARKET. PRICES LOWER —BIDDING SLACK [per press association.] CHRISTCHURCH, May 6. Entries were again heavy in most sections at Addington to-day. Except for fat lambs and light ewes and wethers, for which exporters were competing, the market was very dull, with a tendency towards lower values. The store lambs offering were of plain quality anti hard th sell - Ewe lariibs declined by 1/6 a head. Good ewe lambs 8/- to 10/-, medium to 7/-, good wether lambs 6/6 to 9/6, good mixed-sex 7/9 to 9/-, backward 3/9 td 5/9. Store sheep: A smaller entry with wethers in big supply. Values showed little difference but demand for ewes whs dull, and passings were frequent. Good 4 and ,6-tooth Corriedale ewes to 11/6, good s.m. Corriedale ewes 9/5 to 10/7, ordinary 6- and 8-toofe halfbred ewes 8/- to 9/6, aged and failing mouth ewes 4/- to 5/6, good 6 and 8-tooth halfbred wethers TO/- to 13/-, ordinary 8-tooth halfbred wethers 6/- to 8/-, good 4 and 6-tooth threequarterbred wethers to 12/-, ordinary foiy and six tooth crossbred wethers 8/6 to 9/6, aged to 3/-. Fat lambs: 4100 penned. A firm sale at full schedule values’and a shade better than last week. Extra prime lambs to 20/9, prime 15/9 to 17/6, medium 14/6 to 15/6, light 11/6 to 14/-.

Fat sheep: Another very heavy en try, with quality good. Big ewes were slightly easier, but the lighter weights sold freely under steady export competition. Extra prime heavy wethers 14/- to 16/-; medium 11/6 to 13/9, light 7/6 to 11/-, extra prime ewes to 15/4, prime 10/- to 12/-, medium 8/6 to 9/9, light 6/6 to 8/-, aged 4/6 to 6/-. Fat cattle: Another heavy entry of 419 head, and a further recession in values. Passings were fairly heavy, but much of the entry was of secondary and inferior quality. Best beef made from 28/6 to 31/- per 100 lbs, good 23/6 to 28/-, plain heavy 20/- to 22/6 and inferior down to 12/6. Extra heavy bullock £lB/17/6, extra heavy prime steers £l3/15/- to £l5/7/6, heavy £lO/5/-To £l3/5/-, medium £7 to £lO, light to £l3/15/-, extra prime heifers to £ll/12/6, prime £6/10/- to £B/10/-, ordinary £4 to £6, light to £3/5/-, extra prime cows to £ll/15/-, prime £5/10/- to £B, medium £2/15/- to £5, aged to £2/10/-. Store cattle: A medium yarding. The sale was very dull/ and prices lower than at last week. Two and ' a-half to three-year-old shorthorn steers sold up to £5/17/6, and eighteen months to two-year steers to £4, yearling steers sold up to 47/6, yearling heifers to 35/-, fresh cows to £3, , and rough cows to 15/-. STOCKS AND/SHARES. , WELLINGTON, May, 7. Sales: Milne and Choyce debentures 19/6; 5i per cent. Wairarapa Power Board £95/17/6'; Bank of Australasia £B/19/-; Bank of New South Wales £25/5/-; New Zealand Breweries 35/7. AUCKLAND, May 7. Sales: Union Bank £7; Deyonport. Ferry 20/-. Reported: Rational Bank £5; Bank of Australasia £9; Mt. Lyell 18/-. COLONIAL SUGAR CO. - x SYDNEY, May 6. At the meeting of the shareholders of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Limited, to-day, the report stated the profits for the half year ended March 31 amounted to £384,097 from which a dividend was being paid of twenty shillings, and a bonus of five shillings per sha're, absorbing £365;625. The sum of £l9/472 was added to the balance of profit and loss account, of September 30, 1930, making the total now £394,061. The Chairman, Ml’ E. W. Rnox, reported the business was not affected by the financial troubles of .Australia, except that the deliveries of refined sugar for the half year had fallen below those of the same period for 1929-30. The Fiji crop was damaged by a hurricane, but the Queensland crop was up to the average. An agreement having been arrived at between, the principal sugar producing countries on the subject of the export of .

sugar, he said it was hoped the market prices would soon improve. Mr Knox pointed out that the world’s market for sugar was very depressed, owing to over-production, while the reduction in the consumption of sugar in Europe and the United States was estimated at 31 per cent. If the , arrangement between the principal sligar-producing countries to limit the output of raw sugar from? the factories were to be adhered to, the prices were bound to reach a paying level. The damage done in Fiji was being ■'made good as quickly as possible, but an urgent need existed for a prompt and drastic reduction in the expenses of that colony. Mr Knox referred to the recent decision of the Australian Government not to disturb the present arrangements in regard to the selling price of sugar for the next two years, and said the inference was that

the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, after the fullest inquiry by a special committee, was not making excessive profits having regard to the magnitude of the business handled and the money required to finance it. The company felt it could continue paying the same dividend and bonus which the shareholders were accustomed to receive. The report and balance sheet were adopted. Mr R. W. Gillespie was re-elected unopposed to the directorate. C.P.R. COMPANY’S DIVIDEND. MONTREAL, May 6. Following a meeting of directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the President (Mr Beatty) said that in view of the fact that the prospective earnings of the company cannot be estimated with any degree of accuracy, owing to the unusual conditions prevailing, the directors had decided, instead of declaring the usual quarterly dividend, at the rate of 21 per cent.,, they will declare an interim dividend of per cent., and await the results of the subsequent months’ operations before finally deciding the rate that will be paid for the full year.