NEW ZEALAND AND RIVER PLATE COMPANY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7181, 16 January 1892, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND AND RIVER PLATE COMPANY.

FPeE PeBBB ABBOCIATION.I AUCKLAND, Jaw. 15. The New Zealand Herald has the following :— " We are in a position to state, from a cable message received yesterday, that the annual general meeting of shareholders of the New Zealand and River Plate Land Mortgage Company wbb held in London on Wednesday, Jannary 13, and was considered very satisfactory. _ A dividend of five per cent upon the capital was declared, and the amount of it (£100,000) was placed to a separate reserve, pending the restoration of the capital account. A balance of profit and losb for the year of J83580 was carried forward. The shares have of late been depreciated owing to the apprehension of possible calla being made upon the shareholders to meet the debentures as they fell due, and from unfounded reports of large losses supposed to have been made upon the Company's investments. When the report comes to hand we believe it will be seen that the losses have been exaggerated, and that the Company does not propose to make calls to meet its obligations. Losses have, we understand, been made in ordinary investments, but not to any serious amount. Upon some Argentine securities held in London, such as national and municipal bonds, and railway preference shares, there haa been a considerable skrinkage in value. The Company has not parted with these securities ; they are still held in the hope that their former values may be partially if not wholly restored. In a recent exhaustive investigation, made by the Directors, it was ascertained that if the securities were all disposed of at their present market values the loss would be represented by a sum of 5s per share, leaving 15a per share intact. The Press Association cable message states that the appropriations for the shrinkage of investments amount to £90,000; but against this amount must be placed the Company's reserves of £40,000. It will thus be seen that the sum of £50,000 will represent the present shrinkage, which, however, as before stated, may be restored partially or wholly when the present political complications in the Argentine Bepublic are solved.