BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 June 1926, Page 12

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

The operations of a large bank which are so intimately concerned with the trading and finance of the community it serves afford, as a rule, some indication of the soundness or otherwise of that community. This is particularly the case in regard t o the Bank of New Zealand, and it is satisfactory therefore to note that an increase in profits is shown in the annual report which has just been issued. After allowing for all the usual charges, the net result of the year’s operations is a' profit of £912,160, which is greater by £92,875 than that for the previous year. In addition, a sum of £lOO,OOO has been added to the amount available for distribution, being unused funds which had been set aside previously to provide for any losses on transfer of funds from London. With this and the balance brought forward there is a sum of £1,525,459 available for distribution. The capital of the Bank was increased by £1,125,000 in April, 1925, to provide for a loan made to the Government at 5J per cent., but the Bank is paying, the usual dividend upon the new as well as the old capital. Dividends to all classes of shareholders have been increased by £149,892, the reserve fund by £247,689, and the balance carried forward by £52,078. Such figures indicate exceptional prosperity, and are all the, more acceptable because in the case of the Bank of New Zealand, the community has, through the State’s position as a shareholder, a lively interest in the Bank’s welfare. The Government holds one-third of the capital, and it received £212,464 in dividends, and this sum, with the amount paid in taxation, makes the share of the profits drawn into the Dominion’s treasury about equal to the ordinary shareholders. The directors, staff, and shareholders of the Bank, and indeed the general community, are entitled to warm congratulations upon the excellent results which the figures quoted portray.