South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Monday 2 November 1885, page 1


COMPANIES AND SOCIETIES.

National Bank of Australasia.— The naif-yearly balance-sheet of this institution chows the net profits to be £66,23C Is. id., which with the balance of £5,204 14s. 8.d. brought forward from the previous half-year, ind £1,232 6a. 4d. worth of recoveries from iebts previously written off. makes a total of B72.673 2b. 4d. From this £1,878 Us. 7d. has to be deducted for rote and income tax paid io Colonial and Home Governments, leaving [or distribution the sum of £70,794 10s. 9d. rhis the Board of Directors recommend 3hould be appropriated as followB: — Dividend at 12$ per cent, per annum on 6800,000, £50,000 ; bonus of 2J per cent, per innum, £10,000; balance to carry forward to next half-year. The assets of the Bank ire eet down at^ £9,182,477 5s. _2d., against -which the liabilities, loss, capital, Reserve Fund, and the profit and loss ;redit are £7,891 ,6S2 15s. 5d. The deposits imount to £6,712,609 18s. Id., and the advances to £5,599,418 15s.' Dd. Abransh office bas been opened in Sydney under the manigement of Mr. James Balfour, and the accountant is Mr. T. A. Edmeads, who for some time past has occupied the position of cashier in the Adelaide office. The Commercial Bakk of South AusrBALiA.— The following is from the report of the Directors for the half-year ending September 28:— 'The net profits for the halfyear, after deducting rebate on bills current and interest on fixed deposits outstanding, allowing for bad and doubtful debts, and including the balance carried forward, amounts to £21,090 Is. 5d., which the Directors recommend should be dealt with as follows :— Dividend of 3s. 2jd. per share on LCO.000 shares paid up to £4 each, £16,000 : Reserve Fund, £2,500; balance carried Forward, £2,590 Is. 5d. =£21.090 Is. 5d. The Reserve Fund on March 30 last amounted to £82,000, and has been increased during the half-year by a transfer from profits shown at the March balance of £2,000= £84,000. With the addition proposed to be made as above the fund will amount to £86,5C0. Branches have been opened- at Melbourne under the management of Mr. G. H. Traill, with satisfactory results, and at Perth, Western Australia, with every pros- , pect of acquiring good business. By the resignation of Mr. B. Barr Smith a vacancy occurred in the London Directorate, which has been filled by the appointment of Mr. Henry J. Bristow, of Messrs. Bowley and Bristow, London. The present balancesheet includes the London Branch returns to June 30 last.' The Town and Country Bank. — From the eighth report of the Directors of the Bank we quote as follows :—' The net profits amount to £10,538 16s. 4d., which your Directors recommend shall be appropriated as follows :— Dividend at the rate of 74 per cent, per annum (free of income tax), £8,984 7s. Bd. ; Reserve Fund, £1,000; balance carried forward, £554 8s. lOd. ; total, £10,538 16s. 4d. The Reserve Fund will then amount to £24,000.' The circulation on September 2S amounted to £36,548 against £35,676 at the correspondLugdate of lastyear; the depositewere £465,818 against £404,547, and the advances, £S33,277 igainst £563,030. The Eeserve Fund now atands at £23,000. The Minlaton branch has been closed. Since the last report branches bave been opened at Silverton and Broken Bill, in New South Wales. ? City of Adelaide Land and Investment Company, Limited.— The Directors' report, under date September 30, is as follows : r-'Land. Values— The depression which bas continued for so leng a period is it- length affecting the prices of land not :entially situated, and the speculative prices for city freeholds that prevailed are not now maintained. The Company's properties, however, were in the main bought at reasonablerates, and offer fair margins of profit when better times prevail. Call No. 5— The :all of 10s. a share, declared payable on September 15, 18S5, was readily responded to, and the total amount, £12,500— less outstanding £380, of which £2S0 is due by an English shareholder, and will be paid shortly -has been credited to capital account. The Board intend to call up another £1 per share (10s. payable on December 15, 1885, and 10s. payable on March 15, 1886) in order that, with the paid-up capital at £100,000, their land purchases and improvements thereon without interest at £270,000, and uncalled capital of £150,000, they may be enabled to obtain their deposits at the lowest current rates. This will be to the advantage of the shareholders, as they will have the benefit of the lower rates paid by the Company. Deposits— The amount of money on deposit for the half-year has been maintained, the average being over £100,000.' The profit and loss account ehpwa a debit balance of £1,631 7s. 4d. The interest paid during the half-year was £8,886 8s, 3d,, against which the rentals received amounted to £2,532 6s, 9d. The properties owned by the Company are valued at £297,396 19s. 6d. The cuirent mortgages amount to £105,644 6s. and the deposits £104,059 0s. 8d., while the debit balance at the Union Bank is £21,263 4s. 5d. Laegs Bay Land and Investment Cosipasy, Limited.— From the Directors' report we quote as follows:— 'It has not been thought expedient to submit any of the Company's property for sale during the existing depression, and consequently no eales have been effected since last report. Although no definite plan for affording the much-required accommodation for landing passengers and mails per ocean steamers has been determined upon it is confidently hoped that the undoubted advantages of Largs Bay for these purposes will be fully recognised in the report now being prepared by the eminent engineer, Sir John Coode, at the request of the Government, and that when the final selection is made this locality will not be overlooked by the authorities. It will be necessary to provide further capital, and the meeting will have to discuss any propositions having this object that may then be brought forward .'' The statement of assets and liabilities shows a balance in favour of the former of £74,792. The unsold land iB valued at £67,577, the jetty and moorings at £23,330, the railway at £9,684, and the buildings at Largs at £11,229. Against the assets, which are set down at £114,706, there are mortgages for £24,t00 ; balance due to Bank of Adelaide, £11,986; bills payable, £2,500; and sundry creditors, £1,367. Grange Railway and Investment Company, Limited. — A meeting of the shareholders of the Grange Railway and Investment Company was held on October 26. There was a fair attendance, and Mr, A. Harvey, M.P. (Acting Chairman), presided. The Director's report was read by the Acting Chairman as follows :— ' I have to report that during the last half-year considerable changes have taken place for the good of your property. I allude more especially to the making of the Militaryroad, which now runs right through it and connects it with Largs Bay and Semaphore to the north and with Henley Beach and Glenelg to the south, forming a fine drive between these places. The main road from Adelaide through fiindmarah to the Grange, being now under the Central Road Board, is also undergoing improvement, and will shortly be serviceable for pleasure traffic. The bad state of this road has always been a serious detriment to your property, rendering it before the construction of the railway almost inaccessible. With these conveniences your Directors think that increased settlement will speedily following fact, a tendency in thit direction nas already shown itself, as the increase on railway receipts from passenger traffic alone abundantly testifies, being about 40 percent, more for the year 1885 then for the year 1884. With a similar increase in the year 1886, the Directors believe that the revenue will meet the expenditure, which in the year 1885 hag been reduced by about £500 over that of 1884. Another source of congratulation is that the disagreement with the Government, so long so detrimental to the Company, was amicably settled by the Colton Ministry without coBt to the Company, which, it is hoped, willlead to the adoption of measures to secure an increase of traffic over both lines, to the great benefit of both parties, During this winter the receipts of the railway have been greatly augmented by the conveyance of metal, &c, for the construction of the Military-road. This addition has enabled the railway to show a profit In its working for the half-year, and, although such a traffic is exceptional and will not occur again, it is obvious that the improvements effected will tend to invite increased traffic. Your Directors also call attention to the fact that during the past half-year the Government has built and opened a school at the Grange, and that the residents have erected a Church of England there.' The profit and loss account showed on the debit side :— Balance from last half-year, £6,958 17s, 7d.; general chargeB, &c, £229 6s. lid. ; railway expenses, wages and eateries, &c, £916 19s. 7d. ; Directors' fees, £36 4s. 6d. ; pasturage account, £9 12b, ; and interest, £187 6a. 5d, ?

total, £8,338 7s. On the other side— Triffic receipts, £1,254 5s. 9d. ; rent, £3 ; balance to debtor, £7,081 Is. 3d. ; total, 8,338 7s. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the reports, stated that Eome of the shareholders of the Company and persons interested in the Grange had waited upon the AttorneyGeneral with a view to getting the fares assimilated to those on tne Glenele line, and hoped to be successful. He further remarked that the Grange waB becoming a favourite summer locality as evidenced by the fact that all of the houses in the townBhip with the exception of two of the marine residences were let at the present time. The reports were adopted and Mr. W. L. Ware was re-elected Auditor. The Bubra Burra Mines.— The halfyearly report of the Directors of the South Australian Mining Association contains the following :— ' The profit and loss account has been debited with the sixtythird dividend of £3,080, paid on the 8th of July last, and with £5S9 13s. 4d., the expenses incurred in connection with the Association during the last half-year ; and it has been credited with £1,206 Is. 9d., being the amount received during the same period for rents and interest, and there is now standing to the credit of the account a balance of £G9,1GO I5s. 5d. Some renewals of leases in Kooringa have been effected, and about 2£ acres of land have been Bold at rates fully equal to the former valuations. No sales of country land have taken place during the last half-year.' The land held by the Association is set down in the balance-sheet at £128,638 14s. 8d. The KArrjsDA Marble Company, Limited.— At present there are no negotiations going on between the Government and the Kapunda Marble Company as to the dispute with reterence to the new Parliament BuildingB. Mr. J. Coles, M.P., has, however, had some communication on the subject with the Chief Secretary, with whom he expects to have an interview before next Wednesday, when the debate on his motion is to be resumed. Mr. Coles hopes that the dispute will be settled amisably. Adelaide and Goodwood Tramway Co. —The half-yearly meeting of shareholders in the Adelaide and Goodwood Tram Company was held at the Secretary's office, CurrieBtreet, on Wednesday morning ; 2,881 Bhares were represented, and the Chairman of Directors (Mr. William Everard, J. P.,) presided. The Directors' report stated that, notwithstanding the general depression, the receipts for the half-year had nearly equalled the expenditure. The Manager's report stated that 'during the half-year 178,450 passengers have travelled by cars on this line, and 5,629 per EdwardBtown bus, making a total of 184,079, being 5,586 less than last half-year, and 17,155 more than was carried in corresponding halfyear in 1884. There are thirty-seven horses in stock, all in good order and condition. The rolling-stock consists of six cars and three buses, all of which are in good order. The road is in good condition and repair.' The balance-sheet showed— Traffic receipts for six months, £1,697 6s. ; sundries, £40 lls. 2d. ; to balance on March 31, £42 16s. 7d. ; working expenses, £1,574 15s. Sd. ; interest, £148 Sa. Gd. ; amount written off horses for depreciation, £85 ; balance to the debit, £113 3a. 7d. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet; wished lie had a better statement to deal with, but on the whole it was fairly satisfactory, as the earnings had nearly equalled the expenditure, and he had no doubt that next half-year they would be even more succedsful. As it was if it had not been that they started with too Btnall a capital the Company would be paying its way. It was the interest on the Bank overdraft that had put the balance on. the wrong side. The shareholders would feel they had taken off a considerable Bum on the value of the horses for depreciation. This had not been dope with regard to therolling-BtockbecauBeduringthesbc months a large sum of money had been expended in putting it in proper repair, and now everything was in the best order. Mr. Inoebson seconded. Carried. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the meeting. Chamber of Commerce,— At the halfyearly meeting of the Adelaide Chamber of Commerce, held on Wednesday afternoon, it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. A. W. MeekB, that contracts for Government supplies should be let in the colony instead of through the Agent-General in London, so as to enable local merchants and manufacturers to compete.