BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10621, 17 March 1896, Page 3

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

HALF-YSARLY MEETING.

| Wellington, February 27. j The half-yearly masting oi the Bank of New Zealand was held this atternoon. The Hou. . Walter Jotanslou presided, in the place of tho president (ilr Watson), who recently broke his leg. There were 12 shareholders present, ; representing 1627 shares.

The Chairman said: This half-yearly general meeting is compulsory according to the deed of settlement, otherwise the directars would not have had reason to call you together, there being no business to submit. However, I shall, in tae unavoidable absence of the. president, place before you some account of what has takeu place since our last general meeting, and it will, I think, be ro&ssuring to you, inasmuch as events fairly well bear out the views which were expressed by the board, and on which the legislation of last session was based. You will remembsr that for the year ended 31st March last there was a loss on the bank's working of £37,356 6s. lam glad to tell you that for the half-year ended 30fch September the result was a profit. We had hardly then begun to reap the benefit of the changes and improvements effected. The purchase of the business of the Colonial Bauk has so far proved to be satisfactory that the business has been retained by us almost in its entirety. It is hardly possible that any bank could acquire such a valuable business at a less initial cost. We consider that ample funda are retained to meat all possible losses, and altogether that this bank's future will ba muoh beusflted by that important transaction. The few trading concsraa which remain to the bank have done unusually well for the half-year, but no chance of parting with these concerns will, however, bs lost, and ws are now in treaty to dispose of more th»u one of them. Considerable difficulty has been experienced, aud much time has bseii t&koii up in endeavouring to termiaate on reasonable terms tha existence of the Bunk of Nsw Zealand Estates Company and the Auckland Agricultural Company, both of whioh ace costly to maintain. Negotiations have now reached bucq a stage that we have every hope of netting these companies speedily wound up. Th« bank's legitimate business b«ng well maintained at every point, every effort was beiag m&de to cut off the connection with the comparatively fow remaining things that cannot be classed as proper banking, and we have iu these efforts been fairly successful. One of the most important subjects dealt with by the banking legislation of last seasiou was the authority conferred en ths directors to issue preferred share* to the value of balf a million sterling and bearing a fixed cumulative dividend of 3£ per cent, per annum. Thi» authority has been utilised, and preferred shares for that amount have been issued to her Majesty as the property of the colony in exchange for debentures payable in London oE a like amount, and yielding a similar rate of interest. The debentures are now worth more than their lace value, aad can readily be disposed of at a premium, but any premium so obtained must, in accordance with the act, aftsr the payment of expenses, be set apart as a reasrve fund. It is a matter for regret that legal difficulties have arisen iu the way of having the iuscriptioaof the New Zealand Government stock in London transferred to this bank, which difficulties h«.ve not so far been surmounted. Turning now to the aspect of business affairs generally, with which the welfare of the bank is so much bound up, I havo much pleasure in remarking ths;t the prices for wool and grain have considerably improved, and now stand llrm at figures which are fairly remunerative. There is every prospect of a bountiful harvest, especially in the south. Importance must also be attached to the revival of the gold mining industry. Every great increase of production in New Zealand due to that revival has hitherto been mainly in the Anckland district, but a large amount of capital has now been imported for the development of mines on the West Coast ef the South lalaHd, and we have every reason to expeot a largely increased yield of gold from that quarter. The timber trade has also improved, and altogether I think we may congratulate ourselves on the business of the colony being much better than it was last year. Such being the facts, we may fairly hope that the extreme depression is permanently passing away, and that our institution, fread from the burdens entailed upon it through a long series of years, may now enjoy a leugbhy period of success.

Mr George Allen urged that statements such as had been read by the chairman shonld be circulated to shareholders a day or two before the meeting to enable them to come to the meeting to discuss any questions contained therein. He considered the report satisfactory, and his suggestion was in no way antagonistic. The Chairman explained th&t under tha deed ofeettlement the directors were compelled to present » balance sheet and report to the shareholders in August eaoh year, bat it was not usual to circulate half-yearly reports, and no balance sheets were prepared at those periods. He took it for granted that the half-yearly meetings had been established for the purpose of declaring interim dividends. There was no balance sheet or report to form a basis for the publication of such a statement as had buen suggested. Mr Allen expressed himself satisfied with the explanation and seconded the adoption of tho report, which was oarried unanimously. The msoting, which only lasted six minutes, then adjourned.