BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17651, 11 December 1920, Page 10

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

PROFITS FOR HALF YEAR. INTERIM DIVIDEND DECLARED QUESTION OF NEW CAPITAL. [BY TELECBAPH. OWN COERESPONTJENT.] WELLINGTON. Friday. The half-yearly meeting of shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand was held to-day. Owing to illness, the chairman of directors, Mr. Harold Beauchamp, • was absent. Mr. J. H. Upton presided. The chairman stated that the profits for the half-year ended September 30 were again . satisfactory, and the board felt justified in declaring an interim dividend of 8$ per cent. This will be payable in Wellington to-morrow, and at branches on receipt of advice. The retiring director on this occasion was Mr. William Watson, whose term Would expire on March 31. As there was no other candidate, the chairman declared Mr. Watson re-elected. An address prepared by Mr. Beauchamp was read by the secretary. After explaining the reorganisation of the bank's capital and reserve, for which authorising legislation was passed by Parliament, Mr. Beauchamp said the directors &oped that in years to come the shareholder may receive an even better return upon their capital than that which was distributed to them for the last year. In thanking the shareholders for reelecting him to the board, Mr. Watson said that' on December 31 shareholders would receive from the reserve fund £3 6s 8d as an addition to each share of £6 13s 4d, and this would practically amount to a refund of the £3 6s 8d perl share which was paid by holders and written off in 1895. Shares of high amounts were considered old-fashioned and unwieldy in the present day, and 10 of the-new shares of £1 each were .expected to he more convenient, and probably more valuable, than one share of £10.

Reference was made by Mr. Watson to the clause in the recent legislation giving power to the directors, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to raise new capital for the bank to an amount not exceeding £2,250,000. " When the chairman of the board speaks to you, be is the voice of the board," said Mr. .Watson, "but when "Mr. Kane or I speala as your special representative, we speak for ourselves only, and as I have been asked as to this new capital, I consider it best to say the little I have to say to all the shareholders at once. I do not anticipate it will be necessary to make any further extensions of capital so 60011 after what has been done, but the elaboration of the clause is suggestive, and when the business of the Dominion and the bank warrant it I have no doubt the directors "will avail themselves of the powers given. Matters of finance Tush on somewhat more speedily nowadays than they formerly did; and when we consider the pace of the past few years, the placing of many returned soldiers on the land, the present rate of immigration, and other legitimate calls for extension of banking facilities, it appears unlikely that many years will elapse ere fresh banking capital will be required in New Zealand." Mr. Watson announced that the directors had, decided to give an additional bonus to lower-paid officers.