MORTGAGE FINANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22345, 17 February 1936, Page 5

MORTGAGE FINANCE

FUTURE OF CORPORATION SHARES NOW BELOW PAR DEBENTURES NOT QUOTED The future of the Mortgage Corporation seems clouded in obscurity at the present time. It is unfortunate for the institution that a change of Government shortly after it was established has raised considerable doubts whether it will continue to function. The corporation did not appeal to the Labour Party when Labour was the Opposition, and there is no reason to suppose that Labour's view lias changed. According to a statement from Wellington, which was published recently, there is no prospect of the corporation being abolished in the meantime, if at any time in the near future. The question is wrapped up with guaranteed prices and other aspects of rural finance. About tho only effect of the announcement was (lint tho market value for Mortgage Corporation shares moved up slightly, although still' below par. Financial and mortgago circles are not fully convinced, and an official statement from tho Government might bo welcomed. A year ago the Mortgage Corporation lof New Zealand Hill, part of the | National Government's financial adjust- ! nient legislation, was introduced into | Parliament. The corporation was inI corporatcd on July 1 and entered busi- ! ness shortly afterward with the transj fcr of £36,000,000 worth of mortgages \ and debentures from the State Advances | Department. For this transfer the State ! received stock ,to tho amount of £29,000,000, tho remaining £7,000,000 being a contingent liability. The corporation has been functioning quietly since and it has become a factor in the mortgage market. Shareholders in the corporation arc still in the dark regarding the value of their holding. Tho corporation was financed with a share issue of £1,000,000, carrying 4} per cent dividend, of which £500,000 was allotted to the Government and £500,000 to the public. Tho public share issue was | heavily over-subscribed and dealing j opened at about 7s for tho 5s paid shares. There was a steady fall to a low | point of 4s 6d at tho end of last month, i the current rate being about 4s lOd. j A call of 5s a share will bo inado on April 1 and a further 10s on Juno 1. The first issue of debentures was of | £500.000 at 3 3-8 per cent and the | initial lending rate was 4 1-8 per cent. ! The debenture rate of interest was not j particularly attractive and it is evident that most of it was taken up by GovI eminent departments and some large j institutions. No quotations have been ! made on the Stock Exchange, although I the issue is listed. Any dealing made ! would almost certainly lie at a discount. The first half-yearly interest payment is duo on March 1. FOREIGN EXCHANGES p STERLING RATHER WEAKER j British Wireless RUGBY, Feb. 15 I The following rates on foreign exi changes were current yesterday, compared with the cabled quotations on i February 13 and par:— j Feb. 14 Feb. 13 Pur \ Montreal, dol. .. 4.98*3 4.97% 4.866 New York, dol. . . 4.98% 8 4.98* J / la 4.800 I Paris, fr 74% 74 7 /„ 124.21 I Brussels, belga .. 29.34% 29.37% 35.00 j Geneva, fr. . . 15.12% 15.15 25.22 i Amsterdam, 11. .. 7.27% 7.28 V, 12.10 ! Milan, lire . . 02 3 /[ n ffi'/'n 92.40 ! Berlin, r.m. . . 12.29 12.29 20.43 I Stockholm, kr. . . 19.39 V, 19.39% 18.159 I Copenhagen, kr. . 23.39% 23.39% 18.159 ! Oslo, kr. .. .. 19.90% 19/10% 18. 159 | Vienna, sch. . . 20% 20% 34.585 Prague, kr. .. 119K a 119% 104.25 Helsingfors, mark 227 227 193.23 Madrid, pes. . . 30%, 30 11-04 25.221 Lisbon, escu. .. 110% 110% 110 Athens, dr. . . 517* 517* 375.00 Bucharest, lei. . . 608* 008* 813.0 Rio de Janoiro, mil. 4%d 4Vid 5.899 H Buenos Aires, dol. 35d 35d 47.019 d Montevideo, do!. 39% d* 39% d* old ; Bombay, rupee . . 18% d 18% d ISd Shanghai, dol. . . I l%d 34% d Hongkong, dol. . . 15% d 15%ud Yokohama, yen . . 14% 2 d 14 l-04d 21.58 d Batavia, #l. . . 7.24% 7.24% 12.10 Belgrade, din. . . '217 217 270,31 Warsaw, zloty . . "Sellers. (Received February 10, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 15 On the foreign exchange market today tho following quotations ruled: — New York, 4.99J dollars; Paris, 74£ : francs; Batavia, 7.244 tlorins. NEW ZEALAND QUOTATIONS The Associated Banks (other than the Bank of New South Wales) quoted the following dollar rates on Saturday, on a New Zealand currency basis, subject to alteration without notice: : — Sellinfr: United States Canada T.T 4.00% 3.99% On demand .. 4.00% 4.00% Buying: On demand .. 4.05 4.04% Following are the latest rates for purchases and sales of foreign exchange | quoted by the Bank of New South ; Wales, Auckland. They are subject to : alteration without notice: — T.T. On Demand To £ I N.Z. Currency Selling Buying Selling U.S.A., dol. . . 4.00% 4.05 4.00% Canada, dol. .. 3.99% 4.04% 4.00/ a Austria, sch. .. 20.72 Belgium, belga . . 23.437 Czecho-Slovakia, cr. 94.98 Denmark, kr. .. 17.893 18.203 17.903 France, fr. . . 59.81 61.09 59.85 Germany, r.m. .. 9.797 Holland, fl. .. 5.804 0.014 5.808 Java, fl 5.701 5.981 5.765 Norway, kr. .. 15.895 16.245 15.905 Sweden, kr. .. 15.489 15.844 15.499 Switzerland, fr. . . 1'4.053 12.428 12.058 Noumea, fr. . . 58.44 6'2.89 58.50 Papeete, fr. .. 58.59 02.89 68.05 N.Z. pence to— Hongkong, dol. .. 20 a % a 18 J % a 20% India, rupee .. 22 a %> 22% 9 22 57-64 Ceylon, rupee >. 22 a %j 22% a, 22 57-64 Japan, yon .. 17% Shanghai, dol. .. 18"*% 2 17/,« 18 41-04 Singapore, dol. .. 35'%j 31%, 8529-64 The' cost in New Zealand currency of the pound sterling, and of the principal overseas units, on the latest quotations, is as follows: Presentence Par^ Australia, pound .. 19 10.81 20 0.0(1 London, pound . • 24 10.0.> 20 0.00 Fiji, pound . . .. 22 5.60 20 0.00 New York, dollar .. 4 11,93 4 I.JL Montreal, dollar .. 4 H. 90 4 1.31 Paris, franc . . 0 3.99 0 1.98 Berlin, roichmark .. 2 0.28 0 11.-4 Copenhagen, krone . . 1 Ifj i Yokohama, yen .. • ■ 1 6 '40 2 °' aS CUSTOMS EXCHANGE RATES Rates of exchange ruling at the announced dates of departuro of vessols named are shown in tho iollowing table. They are subject to confirmation by the Customs Department when the exact time of departure is learned on arrival of tho vessel in New Zealand. Finally declared rates are marked*:— Canadian Planter, America, dollars *4.93 Canadian Planter, Canada, dollars 4.94 Aorangi, Canada, dollars .. .. 4.99 Capo York, America, dollars .. 6.01 Cape i oik, Canada, dollars .. 4.96 Port Brisbane, America, dollars .. 4.99/4 Chifuku Maru, Japan, yen .. .. 14/ 3 ad Golden State. America, dollars .. 501 Mariposa, America, dollars .. 6.01% Melbourne Muru, Japan, yen .. 15% d BRITISH TREASURY BILLS (Received February 10, 5.5 p.m.) British Wireless RUGBY, Feb. 15 The total amount applied for this week in tenders for £35,000,000 worth of Treasury bills was £70,010,000. The average rate per cent for bills at three months was 10s 4.28 d against 10s 4.27 d a week ago.