BRITISH TRADE OUTLOOK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19032, 1 June 1925, Page 7

BRITISH TRADE OUTLOOK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROSPECTS. While there is no need to minimise the seriousness of the present position :o the shipyard, engineering and cotiorv imuistries, savs the Manchester Guardian, it is legitimate to point out that there are other sections of production arid trade making a fairly good thing out of it—as is, indeed, evident from the years revenue returns, which show over 336 millions received in the shape of income, super and property tax. The company results for the week ended April 1 show a variety cf concerns —all, doubtless, with their wage and other difficulties making successful competition difficult—cheerfully able to report increased profits. Even in the engineering business there is improvement to record here and there. The Birmingham Small Arms Company, foi* instance, pays a dividend for the first time in rive years, and the Napier Motor concern, with a profit of £178,927, pays its first dividend since 1919. Continued profit recovery is registered also by the MctropolitanVickers Electrical Company as a result of its enterprising policy, and the 8 per cent, dividend is repeated. In other directions there are equally encouraging signs:— Associated Portland Cement _ Manufacturer? : R-evenuc' £660,642, an increase of £78,314. Joseph C'rosfield and Sons (soap): Profit of £384,063, as against £33i,269. _ Steel Bros, and Co. (East India merchants): Profit of £554,002, as against £411,102. Winterbottom Rook Cloth Company: Dividend of 17 A- per cent., plus a bonus of 64 per cent. British Oil and Cake Mills: Profit of £250,136, as against £239,167. Messrs. Bickett, Hull starch manufacturers, aro able to distribute £BO,OOO among their employees as a prosperity bonus. In the same week the chairman of the Linoleum Manufacturing Company at the annual meeting announced a record year in output and profits. The tale of trade recovery may bo all "moonshine" from some angles, but obviously British industry is carrying on successfully in some directions, and the tale is not all told until this is taken into account. AUSTRALIAN TRADE, NEW RECORDS IN EXPORTS. Details of the external trade of Australia up to the end of March reveal a record value in imports for the last quarter, with the exception of the unfortunate boom period of 1920 and 1921, when two quarters were slightly in excess of the present value. Exports at £49,210,000 were also exceeded only in the December quarter of last year, when the amount was nearly a million more. The net result of the external trading for the twelve months to March 31 was that exports and imports were almost exactly equal at about £150,000,000 each, whereas during the previous twelve months the imports were about £21,000,000 in excess of the exports —-viz., 138 and 117 million pounds respectively. Australian returns are based on the producing year, to June 30, and the first nine months of the present producing year reflect the remarkably good season Australia has had, not only in a good yield, induced by an. ample rainfall, but also through high prices. The principal exports during the nine months compare, as follow with the values during the corresponding period of the previous year:— 1924-25. 1923-2-1. Nine months, £ £ Wool .. w 56,557,000 (18,628,000 Wheat w V„ 21,151,000 9,678,000 Flour -.v 4,021,000 4,014,000 Buttor ... 8,499,000 4,167,000 Beef . .. . 2,598,00*) 735,000 Mutton and Lamb 1,329,000 1,134,000 Sheepskins . . 3,420,000 2,493,000 Tallow .. . * 1,262,000 629,000 Lead . . . . 3,017,000 2,369,000 . Contrary to the experience in New Zealand, there has. been no great increase in the importation of motor-cars, for the value in tho last nine months was £10,675,000, while in tho previous year it amounted to £9,920,000 for the corresponding period. A riso in petroleum spirit, from £2,736,000 to £4,033,000 seems to indicate that Australia is now well supplied with ■ imported motor-cars and that any great increase in the future will bo in locally-manufactured. PAYMENT OF REPARATIONS. STATE OF GERMAN TRADE. It is now generally recognised that substantial payments on account of reparations can be made by Germany only in the form of goods. Payment in cash is a physical impossibility, except as a temporary expedient, such as was adopted last year, when Germany first borrowed the cash and then paid it away. As for ordinary gold payments, the latest return puts the Berlin gold and bullion holdings at £45,000,000, and that would not go far in paying reparations. International payments of any magnitude cart be effected only in the form of goods, either to the creditor countries themselves, or to other countries at present supplied by those creditor countries. Either method is an alarming prospect so far as Britain is concerned, for every effort is being made to keep out German goods, instead of accepting more, while any serious encroachment of German goods on foreign markets at present supplied by Britain would be met by equally strenuous efforts to retain the trade. In a less degree the same holds good in regard to all the countries to which German reparations arc due, for any influx of goods would be opposed. The position is at present obscured by tho fact that so far, instead of an excess of German exports over imports, which would build up credit for the payment of reparations, the reverse is the case. During 1924 there were only two months during which Gei-man exports exceeded imports, July and August, when there was a total "favourable" balance of about £8,000,000. During the remaining two months the balance swung heavily to the other side, the net result for the whole year being an unfavourable balance of £135,000,000. January of this year started oven worse, for imports were valued at £68,000,000. against exports at £35,000,000, leaving the external trade at the high record adverse balance of £33,000,000.