COMMERCE AND FINANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21531, 31 December 1931, Page 3

COMMERCE AND FINANCE

‘ , MINING KING SOLOMON' DEEP LEAD. The manager of the King Solomon Deep Lead reports as follows on the work done for the period ■ ended December 23;- : No. 2 drive 1 (sand drive north of shaft): The No. 2 drive has been extended 19 feet north of the wpst cross cut making a total distance_ of 61 feet. The distance driven was in wash of. from two feet to two-feet six inches in depth, carrying good gold. Driving off the end of this No. 2 drive was produced west for 14 feet where the wash dipped and driving_ was discontinued. Eight feet of driving was done north of the west end of the west cross cut. This drive _ was stopped owing to the wash dipping. A drive was started at a lower point to give fall. , This drive -when produced will prove the direction of the dip of the above belt of wash. Seventy-five feet of ground was taken out east df the No. 2 drive. The wash opened up in this section is of a different nature from that worked in other parts of the mine. It is a solid body and gives .the. appearance that it is going to be extensive, probably developing in the direction of Jeffrey’s wool shed. One hundred and fifty ounces 14 dwts of retorted gold were won for the period. PRICE OF FINE GOLD (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, December 29. Fine gold is quoted at £O. MESSRS DALGETY AND CO. ANNUAL MEETING THE NEW ZEALAND SITUATION. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, November 24. Mr Edmiund W. Parker presided at the annual meeting of Messrs Dalgety and Co. on November 19. He regretted, he said, that the atmosphere both in the political arena and in the markets for the sale of the primary products of the Commonwealth and the Dominion had by no means cleared. He did' not need to emphasise that an upheaval- such as that; in Australia had left its mark in many,ways on the affairs of the company. . / ■ ■" , ‘ • *■.- Your directors deemed it politic (continued the chairman), with such a grave situation existing in Australia and New Zealand,, that our general manager . should pay a visit to the other side and : confer with the superintendents and managers on the many and. intricate problems which have arisen out of the ! chaotic conditions. He has arranged to visit our branches in -Kenya Colony on his return journey, and will thus have an opportunity of familiarising himself with our activities at these centres and: making the acquaintance of many , clients and of‘the,.;staff. , We ex-. 1 pect itQ;'.,welcome him back herev some. vi time in July next. . ■ He then spoke of the way in which-Aus-tralia had met the grave financial situation: Briefly, they have agreed to a reduction in the interest on the whole of their internal loans of £550,000,000 by 22} per cent. This was accomplished by means of a conversion loan, to the terms of which only 3-per cent, of the holders dissented—a truly remarkable ' result, and one which showed that the ! spirit ’ and Will of the people were in : favour of heavy sacrifices 1 in order to ; put the finances of their- country ■ once mote bn a stable 1 foundation.- Great retrenchment in th‘e ; public services-and heavy sacrifices by the general community have been agreed to, while imports have been drastically curtailed by means of prohibitive duties, t and, as'a result, the Commonwealth external trade position for the year ended June 30 showed a great improvement—, exports exceeding-the value of imports • by £28,000,000. ■ V : These arrangements should enable the ■ State Governments to- balance - their Budgets at no very distant date, but ■ it cannot be expected that they will be balanced for the financial year* 1931-32. Mr Scullin and his Ministers are to be congratulated, I think, on 1 having faced .the situation so courageously and having accomplished what they have without recourse to inflation and its consequent evils. THE AUSTRALIAN POUND. ■ The real prosperity of Australia depends on the seasons and the prices - procurable for her primary products. : She is experiencing a fine season now, and I am hopeful that we are on the eve’ of a rise in the prices of these products. Given these factors and a fall in production costs, I believe—now that the financial position has been so bravely faced—that it will not be long before the road to permanent prosperity is open, though the process must necessarily.be slow. Any .rise in the value of the Australian pound in relation to sterling must be a gradual, process. The theory that Great Britain’s abandonment of the gold standard should at once affect the- Australian exchange position, while sound, has been influenced by too many adverse conditions to allow of its operation. There is a very large accumulation of funds in Australia awaiting transfer to this.. side,, and, although the depreciation in sterling ■ must in the end benefit the Australian producer, it will be some time before funds can accumulate on this side to the extent necessary to meet transfers of heavy remittances from Australia. I do not think, therefore, that we shall see anything but a very gradual reduction of exchange rates; so trading conditions must continue to be adversely affected for some time to come. CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND. Turning to New Zealand affairs, the chairman said the position had improved since-the last meeting. Here, too, the effect of the continued low level of. prices for the products of the Dominion .has accentuated the gravity of a situation already grave enough. The financial condition of the country, although comparatively better than that of its near neighbour, Australia, has been such as to necessitate the formation of a Coalition Government under Mr Forbes. It has been found necessary to increase taxation heavily, and to bring in restrictive legislation of various kinds. There has been no improvement in the exchange rates in the Dominion since 1 addressed you last year. They have further gone against the country, and although this benefits the primary producer in the long run, it is a hindrance to trade. Moreover, I see no sign of any amelioration of the situation. A restriction of imports and a fall in the costs of production, coupled with a rise in prices, would bring about in time a genuine transformation, I am. hopeful that ere long we shall see this combination of circumstances in being, and that the Dominion will again yield its proper quota to the credit side of our profit and loss account. Every account we have there has been most carefully scrutinised and every provision has been made, and.l am confident that, when prosperity does return, the effects of the pruning knife which has been applied so freely will manifest themselves to no small, extent. . DIVIDEND OF 7 PEE CENT. Mr Parker said that for this year they intended to pay a dividend of 7 per cent. In order, to do that they had had to dip into the reserves to some extent beyond that shown in the profit and loss account. Every source of effecting economies had been and was still being explored, and already substantial savings had been made. The full benefit of these could not be reflected in the accounts under review, but he was certain that’neXt year’s results would show further progress in that direction. 1“ I regret exceedingly; and so do all my colleagues on the board, that it has been .found necessary to include among

LOCAL AND OVERSEAS MARKETS.

these economies a cut in the salaries of the staff, because, as I have pointed out before, it is in these difficult times that the work and worries of the staff necessarily increase. The staff, I may say, has accepted ■ the reduction with a loyalty which redounds to its credit. I think you are to be congratulated on the balance sheet which we arc able to place before you. I hope you will consider it thoroughly satisfactory.” THE WOOL POSITION. In reviewing the wool position, the chairman stated that the company had sold during the year 1930-31 in Australia, New Zealand, and London, 521,245 bales, against 511,580 bales in 1929-30. The increase of nearly 10,000 bales was in the London figures. “ On September 21 the departure from the gold standard was announced, and this had an immediate effect on the wool market, prices rising rapidly with the depreciation in the value of sterling. A flood of orders on the part of topniakers and spinners came in, and the home trade hastened to replenish its stocks, which bad been kept at a low level. At the peak of the auctions prices bad risen 25 per cent, to 30 per cent, above the lowest point. As buyers filled their orders, this sharp rise was not maintained, but till the close of the series there was good competition in the home trade, and during the last few days of the series there was a better demand from the Continent. The wool trade at the moment —in this country, at any rate—therefore, is ■in a healthier condition than it has been for some time. Reports from the Bradford district, in the worsted and woollen sections, speak of a large volume of business being done, both for home consumption ■ and for export. The hosiery trade is also in much better fettle, afid we can only hope that this renewal of activity will last.” DAIRY PRODUCE. The chairman then gave figures for the wheat crop of Australia. Referring to the meat industry, he said that in the case of lamb aggregate killings in New Zealand from November, 1930, to September, 1931, showed an increase of nearly 1,000,000 carcasses. With regard to dairy produce (said the. chairman), values hive been on a decidedly lower level, partly owing to a continuance, of the world-wide depression and partly to greatly increased supplies. The total importation of butter from/ all sources from July, 1930, to June last was over 360,000 tons, an increase of 36,600 tons . over the preceding 12 months. Of this total’it is pleasing to note that Australia and New Zealand combined sent 150,000 tons, the im- ' portation from both the Commonwealth and the Dominion showing notable increases. The exportation of cheese has also expanded by nearly 8000 tons, New Zealand in particular having greatly increased her production. Prices, however, have ruled low, and butter established a new post-war low record towards the end of last year, when finest colonial was sold in the “nineties.’’ Cheese values had a similarly unenviable experience, finest New Zealand at ’ the beginning of May being sold at as low as 42s per cwt. Despite the huge ■i importation, stocks to-day are light, a tribute to the very large consumptive demand in this country.; Prices,-how-ever, have since recovered. ; THE BALANCE SHEET. Commenting on the balance sheet, the chairman said that terminable debentures had decreased £80,859; bills payable showed a large decrease of £278,050. On the credit side there was a reduction of £219,335 10s lid in cash in hand. There was a decrease of £293,306 5s 8d in .advances on land; sundry debtors on this occasion showed a decrease of £149,744 4s 7d; the value of merchandise stocks in hand again showed a reduction—this , time by £142,423 19a 2d. The net profits were reduced by £107,476 5s 8i- as compared with last year. Speaking of the personnel of the staff, the chairman said: I ipUch regret to report the sudden death in July last of Mr J. G. Herdman, who joined the company in 1903 and was for 15 years the manager of our Christchurch branch. Mr Herdman enjoyed the confidence and respect of the whole business community in New Zealand, and his loss will be much mourned by his many friends and by i the, clients of his branch.; Mr H. S. 1 i Lawrence, who has been in the company’s service for 36 years and eub- ; manager at Christchurch for over 11 - years, has been appointed to succeed . him, and the board considers that he will carry on the high traditions of his predecessor to the satisfaction of all concerned. Mr H. Lowry, who has managed the Timaru branch for over seven years, has recently retired on account of ad- , vancing years, and has been succeeded by Mr J. J. Heasley, manager of the Gisborne branch.-. In the interests of economy, the status of this latter branch ■ has been reduced to that of a sub- ' branch, and in future will be subject to the supervision of the Napier mani ager. - There was no discussion on .the chairman’s statement, and the report and accounts were unanimously adopted.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE * (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, December 29. P. and 0. Deferred, 20s Hid; Dalgcty shares, £7 10s, debentures £6O 10s; Goldsbrough, Mort 5 per ■ cent.,, B debenture stock, £64 10s. . - ■* " LONDON METAL MARKET (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, December 28. Following are the official ciuotatlons in the metal market:—

Messrs Fraser and Co., selling agents for Otago and Oamaru Egg Circles, report as under:—Eggs: Poultry farm eggs, Is; storekeepers, lOd to lid. Butter: Separator pats, Bid to 9d per lb; bulk, lOd per lb. Tallow, 0s 6d to 8s per cwt. Pigs; Good bacon weight, 5Jd to 6d per lb; overweights, 3d to 4d; porkers, 6d to 6id per lb. Potatoes. New, lid to 2d per lb. Chaff, £4 10s to £5 per ton, sacks extra. Whole fowl wheat, 5s 3d to 5s 6d per bushel. Rice meal, £5 10s per ton. Bulk honey, 5d to s|d per lb; 101 b tins, 5s 6d to 6s. Beeswax, Is 4d. Poultry: White Leghorn hens, 2s 6d to 3s 6d; heavy breeds, 5s to 6s; cockerels, 4s to 10s; roosters, 2s to 2s 6d; ducks, 4s to ss; ducklings,; 5s to 7s 6d (all per pair); turkey gobblers, 8d to lOd per lb, live weight; hens, 7d to Bd. We stock Palmer’s chick food. Perfection meat meal, kg rings (la per dozen). Special quotes for quantities. Agents for Champion egg crates, Moreg poultry spice, " Isco ” cod liver oil for poultry. Prices on application. Consignors, please note that all pigs and poultry must arrive not later than Wednesday morning of each week. We have a stock of poultry crates on hand for the use of our clients.

Copper, spot .. .. ' ‘ Ton. m s o Fall £0 IS 0 Copper, forward .. so is 1 Iv Fall 0 IS 1% Electrolytic, spot .. 47 0 0 No Change Electrolytic, forward 4S 0 0 Fall 1 0 0 Wire bars .. .. .. 4S 0 0 Pall 1 0 0 Lead, spot ... .. 15 1 s Rise 0 3 « Lead, forward ,, M 15 S s Fall 0 2 G Spelter, spot .. „ 14 18 9 Rise 0 3 9 Spelter, forward .. 14 15 0 Fall 0 8 9 Tin, spot' ,. 141 16 10% Rise 0 15 7% Tin. forward .. .. 144 18 9 Rise 0 IT G Silver, flue .. „ Silver, standard . . 07a. 20d 21 8-lCd Fall Fall 7-16(1 %d