AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND MORTGAGE COMPANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12989, 2 June 1904, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND MORTGAGE COMPANY.

(F/ioir Oun Own- Correspondent.) LONDON, April 23, There was not much of special interest to New Zealand at tho meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Mortgage Company, which wna held last Monday at tho" Cannon Street Hotel. Mr A. Flower presided, and moved tho adoption of the report, which I sent you last week. In doing so, lie remarked that the company 8 loans on mortgage, which 12 mouths «jo were £110,000, were now stated as £97,000, a reduction of £13,000, arising from repayments on account of sums advanced, fho properties on hand, which stood in tho last balance sheet at £463,000, now stood at £450,000, a reduction also of £13,000, arising partly from sales of property and produce and partly from sums devoted to the writing-down of properties not considered to be worth the amount lent upon them. Tho-'item of debentures, which in the last balance sheet figured for £24,000, had disappeared from tho prosent one altogether, having been paid off at maturity; while tho debenture stock, which was formerly £534,000, amounted in the present accounts' to £518,000, a reduction of some £16,000, making a total reduction under tho head of debentures and debenture stock of. about £40,000 during the year. The company's readily-available resources, under the heads of cash, consignment of produce, investments, and loans, which 12 months ago amounted to £86,000, figured in the present accounts for £58.000, and were amply sufficient for all requirements, flipn thoro remained tho debit balance carried forward, which was now ±.33,000, as against £29.000 a year ago an increase of some-JE4OOO. The Chairman explained that there would havo been a surplus on the year's working, over and above all expenses, of a few hundred pounds' but for the fact that tho directors had thought it wise in theso accounts to debit an amount of £5700 on account of properties which were not believed to bo worth the money advanced upon (hem iliiit, at anyrato, was a marked improvement m tho result of 1903 over tho result shown at tho end of. the year 1902. In seconding (demotion, Mr Lyall said ho was much gratified to find that the company s liabilities had bwn reduced by about £40,000, although tho loans on mortgage- had boon only reduced by about' £10,000. He wished to lam from the directors something about the general policy of tho company. It scorned to him that if they f-old their properties from time- to time, as he hoped they would, it was not good business, to bo paying 4| per cent, on dehemitro stock ami investing" the proceeds at about 3 per cent, hero, and, as money accumulated, tho question was what was goiiig to bo dono with it, becauso ho fancied they were, all pretty well agreed that a mortgage business was not good enough to go on with. In reply, (he Chairman said the wisest course in those matters was not to go further than they could see. Naturally tho wish of tho directors would bo that, the redemption of debenture stock and the sales of properly should go hand in hand, and that one should, so far us possible, balance the other, so that while they had tho means for tho purchaso of stock they should not havo a sum of money lying idle which had been provided for thai purpose. That, obviously, could only be dealt with from time to time as opportunity arose. If properties wore sold, naturally an effort would bo made to reduce liabilities. It wa? common agreement among them all that thero was no question of continuing JBb mortgage business of the company. The directors had regarded it for years as a case of liquidating the company. Q ■ The motion was unanimously agreed to. Messrs A. Johnston and AY. Murray were re-elected directors, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman, directors, officials, and' staff.