THE H.B. TRIBUNE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1925. A BANKER’S COMMENTS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XV, Issue 216, 11 December 1925, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1925. A BANKER’S COMMENTS.

As the chairman, Sir George Elliot himself indicated, the reports of the half-yearly, as distinguished from the annual, meetings of the* Bank of New Zealand shareholders do not provide much matter of outstanding interest. That held this forenoon does not provide any exception. There is no oalance-sheet submitted upon which criticism may be directed. The only guide given as to the success of the operations for the six months ending 30th September last is that the board feels justified, as last year, in

paying out an interim dividend of Is 4d on each Ordinary £1 share, 1 the equivalent of a return of 13 1-3 per cent per annum. In relation to tho matter of the Bank’s profits, I the chairman look occasion to refer to the unfair strictures passed upon them by Labour candidates during i I ho recent general election. He pointed out that, although the present Ordinary capital of the Bank appeared on the annual balance-sheet as 3j/ million, it had been found necessary during Hie bad times through which the bank passed to writs off capital amounting to no less than 2} million It may thus be fairly said that the dividends represent a quite moderate return upon the lull capital contributed. Little things like this are, of course, quite beneath the notice of Labour critics when they want to make a point against the Capitalist—with a big How little the big ‘‘( ” is appropriate. to the great majority of tho shareholders in the Bank of New Zealand is shown by the fact, mentioned by the chairman, that of the full number of over 5,300 on the register the individual holdings of more than two-thirds represent less than £5OO of the bank’s paid-up capital. Then, of course, the people themselves, as represented by their Government, hold Preference shares to the extent of one-third of the paid-up capital of the concern. These also are little facts the Labour orator deems it wise to forget or suppress when representing the Bank’s profit as going entirely “into the maws” of the Croesus-like Capitalist. A matter of more immediate public concern than tu.e correction of electioneering misrepresentations was mooted when the chairman came to speak of the prospects for further public borrowing from abroad. A brief summary of what he had to say on this subject will be found in another column under a separate heading. It will be seen that it agrees in the main with what has been said here on the same topic during the last few days. The chairman may be taken to have some inside sources of information as to financial conditions generally that are not available to those outside banking circles. His warning, therefore, as to it probably proving difficult for some time to float abroad loans of substantial amounts on terms favourable to the borrowers must carry additional weight. As fo Great Britain s chance of accumulating new funds

for lending to her dominions her export and import figures for November cabled us to-day do not afford very good reading. They show that, as compared with the

same month last year, imports have gone up by nearly 6 million while there has been a slight decrease in exports. It does not, of course, do to build any conclusions on the returns of an isolated month, but such adverse figures are far from unusual. As London’s new lending money may be said to come out of favourable balances on foreign trade, it does not look as if much were being piled up at the present time. Something the same may have to be said, too, with regard to the internal money market. This must necessarily be badly affected should there bo no early recovery from the recent decided fall in the values of our own standard exports, while the big increase in Customs returns mentioned by tho Finance Minister, the Hon. W. Nos worthy, at New Plymouth last night, shows that we are still continuing our already pretty lengthy career of extravagant importation.