Page
Tebruary 17, 1897.]****
Telapak kak - Ba on current account with Hongkong
ghai Banking Corporation....... 11,534.27
of General Managers
Shanghai Bank-
ing Corporation.
$250,000.00
Chartered Bank of India,
"Australia, and China
50,000,00
Mercantile Bank of India, Ld. 50,000.00
Mortgages
In Hongkong
In Shanghai
$885,500.00 492,897.09
Investments
Chinese Imperial Government
loan, 1886
$32,374.64
Hongkong & Kowloon Wharf
and Godown Company, Limited, debentures..... Hongkong High-Level Tram- Way Company, Limited, debentures
60,000.00
11,500.00
Shanghai and Hongkew Wharf Company, Limited, debentures
62,608.70
Shanghai Land Investment
Company, Id., debentures. 27,588.20 200 shares in the Hongkong
Land Investment Co., Ltd.
13,000.00 ·
5 shares in the Ching Fire
375.00
Steam fire engines
Insurance Company, Ltd...
Accounts receivable
WORKING ACCOUNT, 1895. To losses and claims paid..... To return premia and re-insurances To remuneration to Consulting Committee and
auditors
To steam fire engines, amount written off.. To balance as above
By balance from last account... By exchange
508.71
350,000.00
$260,7 [2.64 232.69
$260,945.33
ง
++
that
$125
There were no questions and the CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report and statement of accounts as presented to the meeting.
*
the
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Company in a position to distribute annually
have been : no less than 45 per cent, on its capital and that be able to ini it is only being done now in order to place our has only be sccounts, as far as dividends are concerned, on fires which hav a sounder basis. After our experience with I think there the 1894 account we could come to no other me to add than conclusion than that it was most decidedly you all will be glad to see unadvisable to pay interim dividends and we has just returned have taken the opportunity as early as possible at the desire of the of altering our system whilst not asking share the large Indian cities to holders to accept a smaller dividend than advisability of an expansion of th usual in consequence of our action. business in those parts, and this 1,328,397.09 | You must recollect, however, gentlemen, that shortly receive our careful atten
the only way this measure could be effected Tomlin, who has been aoting as was by foregoing any substantial increase to during the absence of Mr. Coughtri our reserve fund, and therefore you must be home on leave some time next month prepared at our next distribution of profits to well earned holiday and it gives see that account added to materially to make much pleasure in expressing the Di up for the small sum placed to its credit on great appreciation of his services, in 17 the present occasion, provided of course that have no doubt shareholders will cordially join the results will allow us to do so. As business (applause.) Before proposing the adoption men you will readily follow me when I say that the report and statement of accounts I shall a Fire Office cannot have too large a reserve be happy to answer any question relating to fund-hear, hear)-it being the security them that you may desire to put to me. that our policy holders look to when they come to us, and therefore so long as we continue to pay the handsome dividend of 30 |
Mr. G. SHARP-Mr. Chairman and per cent. on our paid up capital your Board 207,444.54
are of the unanimous opinion that the rest man, in speaking to the resolution wh 1,500.00 should be set aside towards strengthening the just been proposed I may be permit 50,776.86 Company's position, as it goes without saying allude to an incident which occurre
that the stronger we are the more confidence Saturday. In looking amongst some old papers $1,950,161.47 | the insuring public will have in us. For the for a currency memorial which I promoted benefit of those not fully conversant with some twenty years ago I turned up a memo. $ 0. the business of a Fire Insurance Office and who of some names of those who were to be called 33,217.66
in consequence may fail to see the objection upon to sign it and on turning over t 4,847.74
to interim dividends, I might explain that paper I found it was written on the back of 5,500.00 taking our 1896 account as an example an old share quotation list of 1872. In this the 500.00 the balance of $267,164.11 brought forward price of the China Fire Shares upon 8100 216,879.93 is subject to diminution through losses until paid up was just half of what it is now upon.
the whole of the policies for that year have $20 paid up, to which they have been sub- $260,945.33
run off, and therefore it is impossible to say divided; so that in fact our stock during the what our actual profit will be until the 1st last twenty-five years has increased very nearly January next, and such being the case I think a thousand per cent, upon which fact we may: you will all agree with me when I say that it well congratulate ourselves, (Applause). This is, is not a sound or business-like principle to indeed, a record report. There are not many anticipate such profit by paying away in here who remember the first start of this Com- the shape of an interim dividend what has pany. A number of people in Hongkong then 31,588.77 not been completely earned.. Turning now, questioned the wisdom of insurance in the 22,529.87 gentlemen, to the working account for China Fire. They said, "Better give your 28,825.92 the past year we may well congratulate risks to an outside company that has fewer 304,817.76 you on the excellent results to date. The hazards in the street than to the China pys
balance brought forward beats any previous record by some $22,000 and we can only hope that it will not suffer to any serious extent by losses between this and the end of the year. You will notice that premium account again shows a steady advance and this time it stands higher than it has ever done before, in addition to which you must not lose sight of the fact that so much of our business is now done on net sums that we shall have less bonus to declare and there- fore the gain is still greater than it would appear to be when comparing the figures with those of previous years. The formation of tariffs, as mentioned at our last meeting, has extended during the past year and with one or two ex- ceptions they now exist in all parts in the Far East and work satisfactorily. Our gain in premium, you will be pleased to learn, is not due so much to an increase of business as to better rates, and consequently a marked im provement is shown without much extra Jiability being incurred. As regards interest dccount we were a year ago afraid that this would show a further falling off, but you will have been glad to notice that the contrary has been the case, in fact this account has also reached a higher figure than in any past year, and this in spite of the lower rates now ruling. The increase can, however, be partly accounted for by the fact that we have reduced our fixed deposits and added to our mortgages and other securities and partly by the fact of our funds being larger than in 1895; and whilst on this subject it gives me much pleasure to in- form you that our surveyars have recently re- ported on the properties under mortgage to us and we are fully satisfied that there is ample security against our loans. Of the other accounts I need only point out that the in- crease in commission account. necessarily fol- lows the gain in premium. It is, however satisfactory to note on the other hand that our expenses have not grown larger, but are less than in the preceding year, and in gard
that losses account you will obser
WORKING ACCOUNT, 1898.
$
To losses and claims paid....
To charges
To commissiONS
To fire brigade expenses
To balance as above
C.
498.19
$388,260.81
By net premia received, less returns and re-
insurance
$.
By interest.........
By exchange
By transfer fees.
C.
281,647.78 104,556.73 1,918.30 138.00
$388,260.81
THE CHINA FIRE INSURANCE
COMPANY, LIMITED.
The twenty-eighth ordinary meeting of share- holders in the China Fire Insurance Company, Limited, was held at the Company's office, Queen's Road Central, at noon on Monday. Mr. St. C. Michaelsen presided and there were also present Messrs. H. L. Dalrymple, A. MoCon- achie, D. R. Sassoon, N. A. Siebs, C. S. Sharp, C. Beurmann (Directors), G. L. Tomlin (Acting Secretary), J. B. Coughtrie, G. Sharp, A. M. Roza Periera, P. Jordan, J. A. Carvalho, F. Gove, J. Farrow, G. H. Potts, Chan Pat, Hon. Wei Yük, 8. H. Michael, J. Thurburn, G. C. Cox, J.H. Cox, C. Palmer, H. M. Mehta, and J.B. Michael
The ACTING SECRETARY read the notice calling the meeting.
✨The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen, the report and statement of accounts having been in your nds for over a fortnight you will no doubt now allow them to be taken as read. It gives u much pleasure to meet you with such satis- actory results for the year 1895, showing that after paying in interim dividend of $3 per share in February last there remains a profit of $151,048.64 to be dealt with on this occasion. This is in a great measure due to the loss ratio nia having fallen from 91:62 per cent. 4 to 27.35 per cent only for the under review We now propose to pay dividend of $6 per share, but it desiro
most strongly on your minds that must not consider the
which has so many. In the event of a serious misfortune will they be able to pay up all their losses ?" In those days our fires did not consist, as they frequently do now, of putting out, say, & first floor fire at a cost of $250 to the Insurance Company, but occasionally they used to start at the Clock Tower and leave off at the Sailors' Home. (Laughter.) I notice in the report that you have $15,000 down for re-insurances. I donot know what the Hongkong Fire amount is for this year, but I see for 1895 they had $5,000. Their premis receipts being about the same as ours, it appears we are three times more prudent than they. Well now, what are these re-insurances? I take it that they are the annual payment on your part to secure immunity in the case of serious, large, and heavy losses which would interfere with the usual dividend; they are an- nual payments for an equalization of dividends, a prudential arrangement against exceptio losses, against which the reserve fund, to which our Chairman has so prominently luded, is also to provide. Without a substa reserve fund and without re-insura be altogether imprudent to accept As the Chairman said, an insurance not have too large a reserve fund so too. Thus as our reserve increase not re-insure so much because we are in taking heavier risks. Your los to something like $800,000. money and 1 you loan your. and, if I understand corr fire risks upon the securities Now if it were not for the re might be questioned
take risks upon securities for such a reserve
and the larg justification. Spea advances upon carefull at interest of 50 per Bank selection
great deal of