FINANCE & COMMERCE.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXI, 10 August 1921, Page 5

FINANCE & COMMERCE.

HEAVY LOSS. IN SOFT GOODS TRADE. Per Press Asociation—Copyright. LONDON, Aukust 8. A sensation has been caused in tho soft goods trade by Messrs Rylands and ■Sons, Ltd., announcing a loss of £1,263,315 for the half-year ended June, owing to the unprecedented fall in values of stock, and in trade losses under heavy contracts, all of which have been cleared or provided for. The company is claiming from the Treasury repayment of £1,200,945 excess profits duty, which will reduce the actual loss to £62,370.

The directors propose to withdraw* £250,000 from the reserve and pay a 5 per cent, dividend.

COAL TRADE. DECLINE IN PRICES. SUPPLY OUTSTRIPS DEMAND. LONDON, August 8. Thie “Daily Chronicle’s” Ohrdiff correspondent states that th© coal output has outstripped the demand, and a heavy slump in values, it is feared, will close many mines. Last week steam coal fell to £2 ;>er , ton, and a fall to 30s is pending. Fifty thousand are already idle as a result of the coal strike. It is feared that many thousands will join them, but it is hoped the reduction in price will enable Welsh exporters to recover the South American market.

NEW ZEALAND. COAL SUPPLIES ASSURED. ; £ .— DROP IN PRICES EXPECTED. Per Press Association—Copyright. WELLINGTON, August 9. , The opinion of a leading merchant is that the lifting of the embargo on Newi castle coal means that New Zealand I will be relieved of anxiety so far as the coal supply is concerned. New Zealand, he said, would be in a position to command a full supply of high quality coal, and there were already indications of a drop in prices. Manufacturers, gas companies, and municipal bodies carrying on trading concerns, such as tramways, should benefit greatly. No longer would they need to buy “outside” cargoes at enhanced prices, which they had been prepared to pay merely because they feared a shortage.

The lifting of the embargo will probably have another effect —namely, the winding up of the Coal Control Department.