COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14492, 5 October 1910, Page 5

COMMERCIAL.

THE sharemnrket was -weaker yesterday. In mining linos Waihis opened firm, selling at v .he first and second calls at from £6 17s 6d V, £6 17s to £5 17s 6d, but at the third ..•all t.hev eased considerably, changing hands at. from' £6 16s to £6 14s to £6 14s 6d. Tbo closing quotations were buyers £6 14s, sellers £6 15s. Grand Junctions were also slightly easier, selling at. 0~/s 3d and 375, with further buyers at 36s 9d, sellers at 375. "Waihi Reefs Consolidated were bought at. 4s 6d. and Waihi Extondcds at 2s 8d and 2.s 7d. Talismans again sold at 535. and more were inquired for at the same price, but further sellers required 53s 3d. New issue shares were transferred at, 355, leaving further buyers at 34s 9d, sellers at 35s 3d. j In investment stocks a sale was made in' Bank of New Zealands at £10 7s, and further buyers were left, ft the same price. sellers at £10 9s. Wilsons Portland Cements (ord.) realised 41s 6d. Tho early spring trade has been ushered in under favourable auspices, and in all departments of commerce business, with very few exceptions, is being handled with a briskness which we think will be maintained for somo time to come. The Customs returns continue to show a healthy buoyancy, whilst statistics in recard to the volume of inward and outward shinning for Iho port of Auckland show a substantial increase over the corresponding period of last year. Orders received by the wholesale distri- j buting merchants are well maintained for j all staple lines, whilst the volume of i forward business passing has been particularly heavv in quite a number of requisites, i Hides: The market keeps very firm, with | good inquiry for all classes. _ ! Sheepskins: Competition is very keen, and. in sympathy with the rise in the London wool market, prices are expected to improve. Tallow: The market shows some improvement. Potatoes: The AVimmera brought 750 sacks, and the Victoria 4775 small bags from Australia. These shipments arrived to a market absolutely bare of stocks, and will enable merchants to execute- their orders. A very large proportion of the shipments I will bo delivered from the wharf, and we quite expect that by the end of tho week the market will be" bare again. There is no change in the Melbourne market. The quality of the potatoes coming to hand is satisfactory, considering the time of the year. Price is £10. Onions: The Victoria brought 337 bags from Sydney. These were very acceptable, as stocks were running down very low. The market, is firm at £10, with very little prospect of a drop for some time to come. Oats: There is no change to report in the South. The local market is _ only moderately supplied. The Wanaka is expected to arrive here about Friday next, and site will bring a shipment of oats. There is a very good demand here at 2s 7d. Chaff: Stocks are quite insufficient to supply the market, and in consequence merchants find a difficulty in filling their orders. Local is coming in very slowly, and what is being sent in is anything but satisfactory. Several lines that have come to hand lately have been discoloured and musty. Southern is only coming forward in small quantities, and meets with a ready sale. The Banksfield, now loading produce at Lyttelton, has a quantity of chaff on board, which merchants here will be very glad to receive. Stocks of Australian fodder and compressed chaff are now pretty well finished. Compressed chaff is worth £5 10s. local £6, Southern £6 5s for good samples. Fowl Wheat: The market has not altered to any extent. Supplies are moderate, with a good demand. Price 3s Bd. Maize: There have been fresh arrivals finoe our last report. This is selling at 2s 8d ex store for prime qualify. Bran is worth £4 ss. Stocks are very low. and tho demand continues good. Pollard is selling well at £6. Supplies here are sufficient to meet requirements. Flour: Quotations remain at £9 10s for Southern flour f.o.b. Southern ports, and £11 5s for Northern roller flour. Fungus: Dry lots are selling at sid. The quantity coming in is about up to the average. Flax: The deliveries for the month of September were 840 bales, equal to about 159 tons. The London market has undergone very little change. If anything, the feeling is rather easier than it was last week, but the local quotations remain nominally at £23 for fine if procurable. £19 10s for g.f.a.q.. £17 10s for f.a.q., and £15 10s for common. Tow: The arrivals for September were 271 bales, equal to about 23 tons. This is Belling at an average of £4 10s to £5 for export purposes. The arrivals of kauri gum for the month of September were 635 tons, and the quantity for August was 596 tons. showing an increase for September of 39 tons. For the nine months of 1910 the quantity sent in was 6127 tons as against 6023 for the same time of 1909, which shows an increase of 106 tons for this year. For the three days of October the arrivals arc 84 tons, which are 28 tons less than the quantity sent in for tho same period of September," when 112 tons reached here. Since our last report tho market has undergone practically no change. ,If anything, matters are easier than they were {hen, and some grades that were moving off are now hanging fire. BIG BANK AMALGAMATION. ]

'" DEPOSITS, £48,700,000. Whether the constant absorption of smaller Institutions by the leviathan joint stock banks is a good thing for the country may be a matter of opinion (says a London oaper). But there is no denying that the tendency of modern times is to combinations, both in commerce and finance. The proposed amalgamation of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank, Ltd., with Parr's Bank, is of considerable importance, because the former, which was founded in 1872, was one of the most powerful provincial banks, having since 1887 acquired numerous other substantial businesses of a similar character, and possessing to-day, 125 branches. By the amalgamation, the deposits of Parr's Bank will be increased bv nearly £10.000.000, and will rank fifth in magnitude, the total deposits of the leading joint stock banks being, according to the latest returns, as follows:— Name. Deposits. Llovds £77,545,000 London County and Westminster 76,422,000 London City and Midland ... 70.548,000 National Provincial 63.877.000 "Parr's 48,700.000 Union of London and Smith's ... 40,107,000 Capita! and Counties 38,039,000 •Including £10,000,000 of the Lancashire arid Yorkshire Bank. ;.»»rr'B Bank ha* no fewer than 261 branches, of »rhicb 34 jut in the metropolis and 227 jit. the provinces and the Isle of Man, and with the branches of the Lancashire and Yorkshire the grand total will be raised to 385. Under the amalgamation the shareholders of the Lancashire and • Yorkshire will receive six shares in Parr's Bank of £50 each, with £10 paid, and £3 10s in cash for every seven shares in the former on which £10 per share has been paid. In other words, six-sevenths of one share in Parr's Bank, and 10s in cash in exchange for each share of £10 paid in the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank. On each. "of the=e shares of Parr's Bank £10 will be paid by the liquidators of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank to Parr's Bank out of the assets of the former, making them of the same amount paid as the already issued shares of Parr's Bank. The value of Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank shares under the amalgamation works out at about £37 per share, as againßt about £35 10s at the date of the agreement. PROPERTY SALES. An important auction sale of city property, will be held to-day at 2.30 p.m. by Louis Lewis, auctioneer, at Paul Hansen and Co.'s land auction rooms, 64, Queen-street. The property is situated at the corner of Moore-street and Federal-street, and adjoins the site of the proposed seven-storey building to be erected by Messrs. Yates and Co. The position of this pro. perty, situated as it is so near to the wharves, Customs, and shipping, makes it eminently suitable lor business premises. S. R. MAXWELL AND CO., LIMITED. Tha annual general meeting of shareholders of S. R. Maxwell and Co., Limited, is to be held at the office; of the company, Fort-street, Auckland, on Tuesday, the 11th inst. The report of the directors states:"lncluding the balance bronght forward from the previous year, £3036 9s 4d, and alter making ample provision for all known bad debts and providing for de. J.reeiation in the value of leaseholds, vessels, and other assets, there remains at the credit of profit and loss account an amount of £9107 3;i Id. From this sum the directors propose to pay a dividend at the rate of 8 per cent. P'r annum on the shares issued, which will absorb £2354 16s Id, leaving a balance of £6752 7s to be carried forward to next year's account. ' Luring the year under review the business of the company has shown a satisfactory increase in practically all its branches. Following this extension a corresponding increase is necessarily visible in the expense account-, and this has been further added to by providing insurance cover for hulls and cargoes of the, schooners Papeete and Tom Fisher, engaged in inter-Island trailing, a course which your directors considered it prudent to adopt. Reference was made at tC' ; last annual meeting to action being taken by the directors to recover compensation for the loss of the schooner Tamarii Tahiti. A verdict has been rendered by the Tribunal of Commerce at Tahiti in favour of this company for £2100, including interest. The delay for appeal against this decision expired on October 3. The outlook for the present year is satisfactory, and the directors have every confidence in predicting a continuance of the success which has so far marked the company's progress. Mr. 11. B. Dunnet is the retiring director, and, being ellgibly offers himself fur, re-election,".

AUCKLAND STOCK EXCHANGE BUSINESS DONE YESTERDAY. Previous day's closinc: sales. ' j £ b. d. ' Bank of New Zetland— call, £10 7i — i j Wilsons Portland Cement (ord.)—2nd i call, 41s 6d — 1 Kuranui-Caledonian—3rd call. Is 6d ... — May Queen— call, 4s Id; 3rd call, 4s /— Saxon— call, Is 6d 0 16 ' Waiotnhi—2nd call, 3s 10d 0 3 9 Watchman—lst call, 2s lCkl; 3rd call, 2s lid 0 2 11 , j Consolidated Goldfields—lst call, 22s ... — I Old Hauraki Cold Mines—2nd call, 3a | lid.; 3rd call, 3s 10:1 0 4 0 j Crown— Ist call, 4s 8d ... , — I Talisman Consolidated— call, 53s ... 2 13 0 Talisman Consolidated (new issue)—3rd call, 3- — Waihi—lst call, £6 17s 6d, £6 17s; 2nd call, £6 17s, £6 17s od; 3rd call, £6 16s. £6 15s 6d. £6 15s, £6 14a W. £5 14s. £6 14s 6(1 6 17 0 Waihi lieefs Consolidated—lst and 2nd calls. 4s 6.1 — Waihi Extended— call, 2s Bd, 2s 7d — Waihi Grand Junction—3rd call, 37s 3d, 57s 1 17 3 Handsworth—3rd call, 74 0 0 7 Taranaki Petroleum (paid)—2nd call. Ss 6d ... ... ... ... _

CALL AND DIVIDEND LIST. Dividends. Bank of Australasia ... -. 16 p.c. Oct. 7 Calls. Bonanza, September 14 ... 0 0 1 Now Hauraki Reefs, September 14... 0 0 1 Now Waihi Extended. September 15 0 0 3 Oct. 6 Kuranui, September 26 ... 0 0 1 Oct. 19 Union Hauraki, September 16 ... 0 0 1 Oct. 20 WELLINGTON STOCK EXCHANGE. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] . Wellington, Tuesday. The following business was transacted on the Wellington Stock Exchange to-day:—lo a.m.: Saxon, Is 4d (reported); Watchman, 2s 9d (on 'Change). Noon: New Big River, .->'2 14s 6d (reported). 3.15 p.m.: New Sylvia, 3s lOd (reported) ; Old Hauraki, 3s lid (reported) ; Talisman (new issue), 35s (reported); Waihi, £6 16s 3d (reported), £6 15s 6d (on 'Change, four times); Waiotahi, 3s IOJd (reported). DUNEDIN STOCK EXCHANGE. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] DUKEDIS, Tuesday. The following sales took place on the Dunedin Stock Exchange to-day: —Waihi, £6 16s, £6 15s 6(1, £6 15s, £6 15s; Waihi Grand Junction, £1 17s 6d. Reported: Waihi, £6 15s 6d, £6 14s; Waihi Grand Junction, £1 17s, £1 17s 2d ; New Sylvia, 3s 10s; May Queen, 4s; Old Hauraki, 3s lOd; National Insurance, £3 lis 6d; New Zealand Drug, £2 lis. OHRISTCHURCH GRAIN MARKET. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] CHRISTCHtinCH, Tuesday. The local wheat market is decidedly weaker and shippers are now giving not more than 3s at country stations. Even at this price they say there is no margin of profit on present London values. -Very little wheat is changing hands, as shippers have now nearly all they require and millers are only taking odd lots where the quality and price are" satisfactory. There is a firmer tone in the oat market in consequence of the dry weather. __Some of the farmers are feeding their sheep oh bats, as other feed is so scarce. The dry weather is also affecting the seed trade, as the soil is now 100 dry for sowing operations. LONDON SHAREMARKET. . By Telegraph.— Association.— Copyright. London, October 3. On the London Stock Exchange to-day the following were the closing rates:—Waihi: Buyers 128s 9d, sellers 131s 3d. Waihi Grand Junction: Buyers 36s 3d, sellers 38s 9d. LONDON WOOL SALES. By Telegraph.—Press Association,—Copyright. London, October 3. There is a brisk sale for all good sorts, but many withdrawals of shabbies and second-hand lots.

CLOSING QUOTATIONS. Sellers. BuTera. £ 3. A. £ '«. (I. BANKSN'ew Zealand 10 9 0 10 7 0 National ... 5 18 0 — INSURANCE— ! New Zealand 4 3 0 4 2 0 National _ 1 11 'J South British 3 10 0 3 7 6 Standard _ 15 0 COAT Hikuranp 0 19 6 0 17 0 j Nurt. Co.. Ltd., 10s paid 0 10 3 0 10 0 | Taupiri Mines. Ltd. ... 1 0 3 10 0 West port b 11 0 — West pott. Stockton ... U 8 0 0 7 5 Dairy, paid tip 0 9 6 -- Dnirv, con. — 0 4 0 GASAuckland 3 7 0 3 5 6 Auckland, new i.-sue ... 2 15 0 2 14 0 SHIPPING— Northern, paid tip ... 0 15 9 0 15 3 Northern, con 0 7 6 0 7 3 Dovonport steam Fcrrv... 1 17 6 1 16 6 TIMBER— Kauri, paid up 1 19 0 — Kauri, con. 0 17 9 0 17 0 Mountain Kinin. Ltd, ... — 16 0 Parker-Lamb, Ltd. ... 17 0 — Premier Joinery Co. ... — 14 0 MISCELLANEOUS— Marks'.* Turbine, paid up 0 17 6 — Sanford. Ltd 110 0 16 6 Auckland Tramway.-, pref. 15 3 14 3 Auckland Tramways, ord. 14 3 13 9 Avondale Brick and' Pottery 0 6 0 — Cousins and Atkin, pref. -- 0 9 6 D.S.C., Limited — 0 0 5 H.M. Arcade Theatre Co.. pref. 110 — Milne and Choree, pref... — 13 9 Milne, and Chdvce, B ... — 13 9 New Zealand Drug. £2 ... 2 12 0 2 11 0 Tonson Garlick, Ltd. ... 0 18 0 — Union Oil 17 0 15 0 Wilsons Portland Cement Co., ord. ... -• 2 2 0 2 16 Taranaki Petroleum, paid 0 8 6 — DEBENTURES— Auckland Harbour Board 4 ner cent. 97 0 0 — Auckland Harbour Board 4} per cent — 101 0 0 MINING— Alburnia 0 0 8 0 0 6;, Bonanza 0 0 5 0 0 2 Dixon's Consolidated, paid 0 0 5 — Dixon - Consolidated, ccn. 0 0 2 — Halcyon ... 0 0.2 — Kuranui 0 0 7 0 0 5 Kuronui-Caledonian ... 0 1 6 0 15 May Queen 0 4 0 0 3 11 May Queen Extended ... 0 0 6 0 0 4£ Mohowai 0 2 9 0 2 4 New Svlvia 0 3 11 0 3 9 Point Russell 0 0 2 — Saxon 0 17 0 16 Victoria 0 12 0 0 11 Waiotahi 0 3 11 0 3 10 Waitangi Consolidated ... 0 2 2 0 1 10 Watchman 0 2 11 0 2 10 7-eehan. con 0 0 9 0 0 8 Blackwater- 1 13 6 1 10 0 Consolidated GoldBelds ... 1 2 6 119 Ross Goldfields 0 3 0 0 2 10 Progress Mines 0 14 6 0 13 9 Bremner's Freehold ... 0 1 8 0 J. 4 Four-in-Hand ... ... 0 10 — Golden Pah 0 0 2 — Hajraki Reefs, paid up... 0 14 Hauraki Reefs, ton. ... 0 0 6 0 0 4 Mount Welcome, con. ... 0 0 3} 0 0 3 Old Hauraki Gold Mines 0 3 11 0 3 9 Kapanea, con. 0 0 6 0 0 4 Rot M Oak. con 0 0 6 0 0 3 Union Hauraki 0 0 6 0 0 4} Sedclon 0 0 2 — Cornstock, con 0 0 5 0 0 3 Champion 0 0 5 0 0 3 Crown 0 4 8 0-4 6 Crown (options) 0 2 4 0 2 2 Crown Roral. 6d paid ... 0 0 4 — Golden Belt, paid up ... 0 0 8 0 0 6 Golden Belt, con 0 0 6 0 0 4 Golden Cross 0 0 6 - 0 0 3 Komata Reefs 0 0 6 0 0 5 Maoriland 0 0. 7} 0 0 5; Pride of Waihi 0 0"5 0 0 3 Rising Sun 0 0 5 0 0 4 Tairua Broken Hills ... 0 1 5 0 14 Tairua Golden Hills ... 0 2 0 0 16 Tairua Monarch Con ... 0 0 3 I) 0 2} Talisman Consolidated ... 2 13 3 2 13 0 Talisman Consolidated, new issue 1 15 3 1 14 9 Waihi 6 15 0 6 14 ' 0 Waihi Reefs'Consolidated 0 4 9 0 4 7 Waihi Extended 0 2 8 0 2 7 Waihi Grand Junction ... 1 17 0 1 16 9 Handsworth 0 0 8 0 0 7 Mountain King .... ... 0 0 10 0 0 8} New Waitaia, con. ... 0 0 84 0 0 6.