Pacific Commerce and Produce

ns Ph ’dp (SS) Co.

ws Huge Reserves

V prettier pictures, composed f figures, come out of Fiji than tie annual balance-sheet of s Philp (South Sea) Co., Ltd. accounts for the year ended ary 31 (the Co. was established 20) are to hand. 3 subscribed capital is 1,000. It usually gets 10 per (calling for £100,000) and that at it gets this year. The profit £160,283 (£lB,OOO better than previous year). This means there is £60,000 over, after ;nd. i Directors are putting £50,000 into reserves, and carrying be balance into the current account which, with last year’s ce, starts the new year with 4. ire is now £625,000 in a general ve, and no less than £633,877 “Equalisation and Rehabilita- Reserve —or total reserves, and above subscribed capital, ,258,877, plus the £90,000 re ng in P L account. 5 accounts say that these large res are “wholly used in the ess”. But, in addition to about 00 described as cash on hand, over £1,000,000 is shown as stments in shares and in mment loans”, and it may be led that much of it is not ng what may be regarded as Company’s normal trading of 10 per cent. is a situation characteristic ding in Fiji. (See Commentary itorial Section).

•e OH, Gas and

er from Puri

\ deviated hole at Puri No. 1, sached the “interest” zone on ihedule —April 19—and on that it is reported that gas, oil vater flowed for about eight 1 only unscheduled thing about yhole operation was the re i on the stock exchange. At writing. May 6, the price of earch shares is around 7/ lowest they have been for is. Rights in the new Oil h issue, which were over 4/diately before the latest oil were down to 2/7. fspaper financial experts, who I “wild rushes” and “frenzied” ty after the first news of new iked through, must have been pointed at share market re

actions—as no doubt were the speculators.

Following the very brief an nouncement by Australasian Petroleum Company there was heavy selling from London —where other oil booms in recent years have originated—and a wait-and-see at titude in Port Moresby.

The APC official report, issued after the April 19 flow, said: At Puri No. 1 a test of the limestone drilled by the first deviated hole between 7,498 ft. and 7,528 ft. is in progress.

Small quantities of gas, oil and water are being produced.

Morris HedstromPrefs

to be Paid

WHEN Messrs. W. R. Carpenter & Co. Ltd. purchased Messrs.

Morris Hedstrom Ltd., of Fiji, three years ago, they of course assumed responsibility for the 219,206 issued Preference shares. The latter have a nominal value of £1 each, and they carried a guaranteed dividend of six per cent.

The directors of the group are now taking steps to pay off these shares. For many years, Morris Hedstroms carried very considerable accumulated liquid funds.

When the Carpenter purchase took place, there was half a million in cash and short-call loans, and another quarter-million in Govern ment and municipal stocks. There probably were family reasons for the maintenance of the preference share capital—otherwise, why pay out £13,200 per annum in preference dividends, when there was more than half a million of liquid funds earning considerably less than six per cent?

Nonetheless, MH Prefs have been a gilt-edged stock; and the Carpen ter group is recognising this by adding, on this repayment, a premium of 5 - per each 207- Preference share.

Developments at

Kainantu, NG

King Island Sheelite < 1947 1 . Ltd., will spend £lO,OOO in the next year in a joint effort with Australian Gold Develop ment NL in surface drilling, underground development and sampling in Fthtepr^al"a"h area of the New Guinea Eastern High lands. .

Most active gold production around Kainantu at present comes from nat ve miners who are doing very well—on native standards if not on goldmining company standards Some Europeans have also been working there, and some big-com panies. including New Guinea Goldfields, Ltd. have shown interest. (Oven

Dylup Produces More

Cocoa and Profit

The boom prices for copra in the last half of 1958 are reflected in the record dividend declared by Dylup Plantations, Ltd., for the year ending January 31. 1959.

Dividend will be 20 per cent., which in cludes a bonus of 5 per cent. Profit for the year w r as up £ 19,000 on 1957-58 when a dividend of 12 per cent, was paid.

Dylup’s plantations are located in the Madang district of New Guinea and cocoa is produced as well as coconuts. Cocoa production which rose from 22 tons in 1957-58 to 157 tons in 1958-59 helped to boost that record dividend.

Fiji Beer Now

In Bottles

Fiji’s local beer made its first appear ance in bottled form on May 1 from Carlton Brewery (Fiji), Ltd.’s recently established brewery at Suva.

The two varieties lager and bitter —were both voted acceptable by the connoisseurs, but there had been hopes that the price— -3/10 per bottle or £l/19/9 a dozen, Fijian currency, and higher at more distant points—would have been a good deal lower.

The new price is. however. 8d less than imported Australian bottled beer.

Timor Oil and

Tradewinds in Co-operation

Timor Oil, Ltd., spread its interests wider in April by entering an agreement with Tradewinds Exploration, Inc., of Colorado, USA. Timor has a concession of 6,851 sq. miles in Portuguese Timor, and Tradewinds have agreed to drill a 15,000 ft. well in the area free of cost. After that, the two companies will contribute to further exploration on a £ for £ basis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Timor wall receive 650,000 units in Trade winds (which have interests in Alaska.

Honduras, Panama and Ecuador); and Timor will issue 500,000 of its shares to Tradewinds. As a result, Tradewinds will have a ninth interest in Timor, and Timor

a seventh interest in Tradewinds.

Previously Timor was a predominantly Australian company—7,ooo of the 8,000 shareholders being Australian.

Enterprise Production

Improves Slightly

Total gold production by Enterprise of New Guinea Gold and Petroleum Develop ment during April amounted to 105 oz.

Of this 75 oz came from crushing (60 tons); and 31 oz from alluvial workings.

This was better than March production by 28 oz.

NGG Production

New Guinea Goldfields production during March was as follows: 850 oz of fine gold, 1,565 oz silver from Golden Ridges mill; 117 oz gold from Golden Ridges alluvials; 290 oz gold from Koranga; 79 oz from tributes; and 135,873 su. ft. of sawn timber from milling enterprise.