COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18275, 16 December 1922, Page 7

COMMERCIAL.

THE LONDON MARKETS.

BANK OP ENGLAND RETURNS.

Australian and N Z. N Cable Association. (Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 14.

Tho Bank of England returns for the week ended December 14, compared with those for the week ended December 7, are as follows:— Deo. 14. Deo. 7. £ £ Coin 125.621.000 125.619.000 Reserve . . .. 22,735,000 22,833,000 Isoto issue .. .. 123,161.000 123.0154.000 Orovt. deposits . , 10,113.000 11,142.000 Other deposits .. 114,773.000 126,554,000 'jrovt. Securities . 53,927,000 66,892,000 Other securities . 66,123,000 65,831,000 Proportion of reserve to liabilities . . 18.20 16.59 RATES OF DISCOUNT. Short loans, 1} per cent., tho same as last week; three-months bills, 21 per cont., oomparod with 2 7-16 per cent, last week. FOREIGN EXCHANGES. The following rates on foreign exchanges are current to-day, as oompared with the oabled quotations on Deoember 11 and par;— Dec. 14. Deo. 11. Par. New York . . 4dol 65} c 4.58 4.866 Montroal . . 4dol 67k 4.58J 4.866 Pans • • . . 64fr 65c 64.65 25.525 Rome .. .. 92iliro 91 25.225 Berlin . . .. 86.000 m 38,000 20.43 Stockholm . . l?kr 23ore 17 18.159 Chnstiama .. 24kr 37ore 24.20 18.159 Copenhagen . . 22kr 230r0 22.16 16.159 Calcutta . . is 3 5-lGd Is 4d 2s Hongkong .. 2a 3Jd 2s 4id — Yokohama . . 2s lid 2a Id 2s OJd CONSOLS AND COLONIAL STOCKS. The following table gives quotations for consols and colonial inscribed Btocks, oompared with those of December 7:— ■

Price. Variation. £8d s d Consols, 21 per oont. . . 55 15 0 5 0* British 8J p.o. war loan 95 10 0 Same British 5 p.c. war loan . 99 10 0 2 6t British 3§ p.o. conversion 75 2 C 2 6+ New Zealand 6 p.c. . . 110 2 6 New Zealand 4 p.c, 1929 93 15 0 — New Zoaland 3J p.c. 1940 80 17 6 -* Zealand 3 p.c.. 1945 73 0 0 — Com'wealth 6 p.c, 1921-41 105 17 6 2 6* Com'wealth 5\ p.c, 1922-27 100 5 0 — W. Aust. 3i p.c, 1920-35 81 10 0 — Jl-§-3£- 4 p - c - 1933 ..88 0 0 sOt Jj.S.W. S p.c, 1935 .. 78 5 0 10- Ot S. Aust. 61 p.c, 1930-40 ..li 9 0 0 5 Ot S. Aust. Bj> p.c, 1939 . . 80 0 0 Same S. Aust. 3 p.c, optional . 61 10 0 5 Ot Queensland 6 p.c. 1930-40 105 7 6 - 7 6t Queensland 4 p.c, 1924 . . 95 17 6 5 0t Queensland 3J p.c, 1921-24 95 5 0 5 0+ Queensland 8} p.c, 1930 . . 85 10 0 Same Queensland 3 p.c, 1922-47 85 0 0 Same Victorian 51 p.c. 1930-40 103 5 0 5 01 Victorian 31 p.c, 1921-26 95 7 6 Same Victorian 31 p.c,1929-49 . 76 10 0 5 Ot Viotorian 3 p.c. 1929-40 . . 70 0 0 Same t Higher. * Lower. — Not quoted last week. WHEAT AND PULSE. Wheat cargoes are fully steady in view of the advance of Canadian and United States options, but demand is slow. Parcels are steady; Haugorland sold at 525. Spot trade is slow. New Zealand, ex-store, 44s 9d: Australian not offering. Flour.—Dull. Australian, es-storo, 41s 6d. Barley.—Quiet. Australian Chevalier spot, 60a; New Zealand, malting 495, feed 355. Peas.—Dull; 82s 6d is asked for New Zealand maples, March-April shipment. Blues, spot SGOs to BCOa. Beans.—Quiet. New Zoaland spot, 525.

LONDON WOOL, SALE. MISCELLANEOUS OFFERINGS. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 14. At the wool so Jos to-day there was a miscellaneous offering of all descriptions. Prices wore unchanged. There was rather a bet.er selection of Merinos, whioh met good competition. The New Zeaknd clip ixampoi realised 23d. The Bradford market is quietly confident »™ «™ ton |- *? L ath . er bettor - Quotations 35d. 4?e 171d IX 6M ' 60 ' 8 ** d ' 56 ' 8 AUOKLAND TRAMWAYS.

SHAREHOLDERS' PROSPECTS. [FEOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] LONDON. Nov. 10. nwi th6 T r . 8 ? of hi", fPeech ot tha annual meeting of the Auckland Tramways Co yesterday, the chairman. Mr. C. G Teaetnieier. discussed the directors' decision to wind up the company. He said the policy pursued by the board since the *alo of tho company's tramway undertaking, to the Auckland City Council in f919. had been the gradual liquidation of tho cor-.p&ny at the time and in the manner likely to produce the best results to tii« nharehn.Wrs During the throe years tho shareholders had received a return upon their share* which was certainly not less than i.iight have been anticipated if the tramway undertaking had continued to be owned and worked t>y the company. Since June 30 further substantial progress had been made in the direction of liquidation. An offer was made to, the debenture stockholders to "exchange their debenture stock for 5J per cent. corporation debentures on terms which, while advantageous to the company, approximated to tho company's power of compulsory redemption at 105 per cent. Holders of stock to the'extent of £124,935 accepted the offer and the amount of stock now outstanding had been reduced to £104,483, which was a reduction, of £270,000 on tho amount outstanding at the date of the sale of the undertaking. The distribution of the corporation debentures among the shareholders was not practicable, and even if it were practicable, there wss Teason to believe that a' distribution in cash would in the present circumstances, be preferable to the large majority of shareholders. " Shareholders will expect me to express some opinion as to what tho results are likely to be to the ordinary shareholders," tho chairman concluded. "This, of course; depends entirely upon tho realisation of the corporation debentures. I think, however, that it is not taking a too sanguine view to look forward to a return of not less than the par value of the shares."

KAURI TIMBER OgMPANY.

DIVIDEND OF 3 PER CENT.

The directors' report of tho Kauri Timber ; Co. for the year ended August 31, 'recommended a dividend for tho half-year of 4 per cent., making a t§tal of 8 per cent, for the year. It states that the profits, | after providing for depreciation, income tax. j etc.. amounted to £60.011 12b 4d, of which dividends absorbed £60,000, the balance ofcj £611 12s 4d being added to the amount j brought forward at August 31. 1921, £13,116, i making £13,728 to be carried forward. Owing to the reconstruction of the company, no balance-sheet was issued in 1920. A return of 18s per share was-made to the I holders of fully-paid shares, the capital of I the new company being £750,000, in 600,000 , shares of £1 5s each. Profit for 1918-1919 was £55,008. and dividend and bonus paid amounted to £46,800 on £585,000 oapital. • Following is a comparison of the company's I results for the last two years:— 1921 1922 I £ £ Brought forward .. — 13.116 Net Profits .. . . 93.116 60.612 Dividend at 9 p.c. S pc. Amount . . , . . • <W. 300 60,000 Dividend eauahsation fund 20,000 — Carried forward .7713416 ~£13,728 The net profit shown .is the amount remaining after transferring £7613 to the fire insurance* fund and £879 to the marine insurance fund. j

CANTERBURY MARKETS. (BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATIUrT.J CHRISTCHUROH; Friday. Business is very dull at present and not likely to show much revival until after the bolida-n3. Operators are showine little disposition this year to indulffo in forward business. Large quantities of peas have been sold for export, but the market is scarcely so buoyant as some weeks a?o. Maltsters are not yet showing any anxiety about barley supplies, but if they are to depend this year entirely on the_ corning cr.op they may find themselves in short supply. There are still Rood supplies of last season's big crop on hand, but there has been some export recently, and the probabilities are than in a month or so, when crop prospects aro more definite than at present, tho indifference may disappear. All classes of Beeds are holding their position with only small business doing.

The difference in the return to grower* between kidneys left in lambs and kidneys taken out is equal to id to Id per lb; that, is, .thb grower is getting lOd per lb with kidneys left in and is getting equal to IOJd to IOJd with kidneys taken out. _ Regarding the board's regulation governing the minimum size cl parcels of sheep or lambs which may be shipped, the board particularly 'desires all farmers who wish to ship on their own account to pool all nmall consignments. There are pools in operation at all works, but should any farmers have any difficulty :in this reppect the board desires they should at once communicate with th*e board. «

MARKET REPORTS. FRUIT AND PRODUCE. The Auckland city markets were well supplied with fruit yesterday and heavy quantities were received of several varieties. The principal lines were tomatoes, plums, strawberries, gooseberries, Sydney oranges, apricots, a. fair quantity <>f Sydney and local cherries and a few early pears, apples, and peaches. A large shipment or bananas arrived by the Navua during the week from Fiji said a email quantity 01 pineapples; A new shipment of Canadian apples arrived by tho Niagara yesterday, about 9000 cases being landed. Particularly heavy quantities of poultry appeared on the market to meet Christmas demands. There were also heavy quantities of potatoes and onions. FRUIT.

Prices for the best grades of hot-house tomatoes ranged from lOd to la Id per lb; medium, 7d to ]Cd; out-door tomatooa, 8d to lid; second grade out-door tomatoes, 4d to 7d. Among local apples, Gravensteina realised from 12s to 153 per caee; other linos, 8s to 12s. Good hne3 of Sydney oranges brought from 16s to 26s per case; poorer quality, 5s to 10s. Cherries of best quality fetched from 20b to 28s per case; fruit in bad order, 3s to 10s. First grade lemons sold from 15s to 225; large and coarse, 8s to ,12s. Cherry plums sold troru. -Is to 6a, with small green plums from 3s to ss, and large red plums from 6s to Bs. Black plums Bold from 3s to {is. Small apriSltS' realised from 4s to 6e and largo from 6g to Bs. Small specimens of the now seawn's po'ara sold at 6s (halfcases). Hothouse grapes, brought from 2a to Ms 6d per lb. Californian-'j, in barrels, 85s to 455. Best lines of gooseberries made from 6s to 7s; others, 8s 6d to 4s 6d. Pineapples, in poor order, fetcfted from 10s to 14s: repacked, 24s to 275. The bananas ex Navua. eold at between 16s and 27s per box. POULTRY. Extremely heavy supplies of opultry appeared on tho market in anticipation of the Christmas demand. A good many turkeys were eold, and it is expected that all kinds of birds will be in very heavy supply until the end of next week. The market was overstocked with hena, and prices all round were low. Turkey gobblers roalised up ,to 22s 6d and hens to 9a. Maximum prices for others birds were a« follows:—Geese, 7s 3d; cockerels, 6s 6d; Leghorns, 2s 9d; heavy hens, 4s; young duck, 4s 6d; old ducks, 2s 6d. DAIRY PRODUCE. Large quantities of fresh eggs came to hand and met an extra keen demand. Prices for hen eggs ranged from Is 6d to Is 7d and duck eggs from Is 4id to Is sd. There were largo supplies, of_ farmers' butter, which sold at prices ranging from Is Id to Is 6Jd per lb, according to quality. Section honey realised from 7Jd to 8d per section. FIELD PRODUCE. The market was glutted with potatoes and prices ranged from 4s to 6a Gd per cwt. The new season's onionß -were in over-supply, and realised from Id to lid roer lb. Cabbages sold from 2s to 5s per sack; green peas. Id to lid per lb: French beans, Bid to 4id per lb; cucumbers (in heavy supply). 3-s to 7s 6d ner dozen; rhubarb, 2s to 4s per dozen; vegetable marrows, 2s to 5s per dozen; carrots, parsnips, and beetroot, 9d to Is 3d per dozen; Tettuce, j 9d to la 6d per dozen.

PROPERTY SALES. Under conduct of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. C. F. Bennett sold by auction yesteiday a freehold dairy firm of 156 ceres at Walton for £4400. He also sold, under instructions from the trustees in the estate of thr> late P. C. Craddock, a..five-roomed dwelling in S&rsfield Street, Ponsonby, with a water frontage, for £1375. Several other properties were offered but failed to reach the reserve and were, withdrawn. Messrs.. Samuel Vaile and Sons, report having sold, by auction, yesterday, lot 9 of Watson's North Head estates Devonport, with frontape to the harbour, for /:RSO; two peotions in Henburn Street wero also leased for the City Council on the Glc.«kt>w system, at, £20 per annum lor each.