FINANCE AND TRADE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1628, 13 May 1903, Page 66 (Supplement)

FINANCE AND TRADE

The subscription, for the German loan lias been very large, the amount being applied for 47 times over. Heavy subscriptions are usual in Germany and France, for, iats it is always regarded as certain that loans will be over applied for, subscribers ask for larger amounts than they really want. Then the terms are generally sufficiently attractive to induce speculation. A special cause for the great success of the loan is that since the financial and company troubles of two or three years ago the German public have shown a decided preference for investment in public securities.

The “Shoe and Leather Record” of March. 13 reports on the London market for ■ Australasian leather and basilis as fallows: —“Australian sole leather comes along wretchedly slowly. Users are not being asked more money because trade is quiet generally, but it must come if things brighten up. The tanners out in Australia have so much better prospects that they have practically ceased to consign. Theirs is a protected market, and hides are just as dear there as they are here. The merchants in London have dropped the rounding business to a large extent, and very little retanning is being done anywhere on account of the relative y low prices for bellies and shoulders. Clear sides, suitable for making ing and straps when stripped separately from the other side fetch good prices and are still wanted, but the Australian tanner does not always care to do this. In basils, prospects are better! although the turnover is small in the good classes by reason of their scarcity. There is an active demand for Turkish, Smyrna, and other kinds, but only to fill up gaps where consumers cannot get the right sort of Australian. It is the same with Scotch and English basils— they are fire dear, and recourse has to be had to the heavier New Zealand® for aprons, etc. Quite apart from the.shoe trade,saddlers and others who use basils for special' purposes must feel the famine considerably.”

The half-yearly report and balance sheet to March 31 of the National Bank of Australasia, Limited, shows that the net profit for the period compares with that for the two previous half-years as follows March 3i, 1903, £344,660 8s 9d; September 30, 1902 £35 038 2s lOd; March 31, 1902, £34,393 9s 4d. The'apparent diminution in the net profit for the past half-year, compared with the previous half-year, is explained by a considerable increase in taxation. Adding the balance brought forward, the total amount distributable is £50,259, which the directors propose to appropriate as follows. -Transfer ta reserve fund (making it £76,060), £5,000; dividend on preference capital, at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, £7,644; dividend on ordinary capital, at the rate of 3£ per cent, per annum, £20,867; balance forward, £16,747. The dn-pied eua qeqq SAioqs qooqs oouu[nq capital of the bank is £1,498,220, and that liabilities to the public, inclusive of deposits, notes and bills in circulation, and other items, amount to £7,790,398. The immediately liquid assets, including coin and bullion, Government securities, ©to., present a total of £2,855,565. Discounts and other advances stand at £5,765,649.

San Francisco advice states that there change in th 9 local salmon market. The action of the Alaska Packers’ Association in cutting the price of the inferior grades of saunon and the effect it will have on the future of the industry is still one of the main topics of discussion. In the long run it is generally conceded that the \ future benefits will more than offset present losses. At tne low prices cheap salmon will be introduced into many sections of the country, and the demand in following seasons will likely show an improvement. Heretofore cheap grades of fish have been too abundant, and the overproduction is responsible for the demoralisation of the market. With the pack tinder control, the association will be able to establish good prices for the higher grades, which, it is considered, will benefit the independent packers and at the same time so limit the pack of the cheap grades that' the production wall not incur a loss, as it is doing now. The statistics of the salmon product of British Columbia for 1902 show a falling off of nearly 50 per cent, from that cf 1901, which, however, was the' record year of that industry in the history of the province.

The April number of the “Australasiaii Insurance and Banking Record,” which is to hand, contains a number of articles of great economic and financial interest. Of particular concern to this state are contributions on the Adelaide fire brigade and the position of Australian life insurance business, as shown by the South Australian and Western Australian returns.

Messrs Rocke and Sons write from London, March 10:—“Salted Pe.ts.— Australian —The imports are inconsiderable and the market unchanged. Prices of Australian roans off skins falimcngered in England are perhaps hardly as

firm as they have been, tanners in the States finding it difficult to go on paying the old prices. Nevertheless stocks are very small, and holders in most oases quit© firm. Imports from January l f 1903, 76 casks; 1902, 93 casks. Basils. —Australian—The few basils of fair to good quality now Coming forward command very full prices, and, taking into consideration the general poor quality of even the best grades, it is doubtful whether values have ever been on a higher basis than at present. Unfortunately the lover grades still abound, and although holders are firm in price only a limited busines is being done. Shipments «of basils of all kinds from Australia are getting smaller and smaller, the quantities shipped from Sydney during January being 271 bales and February 155 bales. Imports from January 1, 1903, 1,071 bales; 1902, 871 bales.”