RANKING RESULTS.
Judging from present indications, the banking year has been only moderately favourable from the shareholders' point of view. It is quite true that the average value of loanable capital has been higher than in the preceding year, but, con- trary to the ideas of those who so frequently imagine that high Bank Rates spell high banking profits, it is generally found that such is by no means necessarily the case, the higher rates which the banks have to give on some of their largest deposits more than offsetting the profits derived from those deposits upon which no interest is paid. On the present occa- sion it seems likely that bankers' earnings have been good_ in the matter of terms obtained for the use of their resources in the Money Market and on the Stock Exchange ; but apart from certain industries, commercial business at home cannot have been very lucrative. On the other hand, profits have probably been swollen in some cases by the realization of investments, for, although gilt-edged securities may have declined during the year, it must be remembered that long ago they were written down by the banks to a very low level, and that during the year some very large sales have been effected at prices giving a profit. There will, no doubt, again be ample and necessary allowances for all bad debts and other contin- gencies, and shareholders will probably be fully content if dividends are maintained at the level of the past few years.
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