the Borneo Timber trade for many years. It owns sawmills and engineering
works at Sandakan, North Borneo, and employs a staff of some 700 men, It
has been doing a considerable export trade with China, Europe and Australia,
and it is anticipated that the acquisition of its business as a going conceru,
with all its connections and organization, including a well-trained and exper-
ienced staff and labour force, will place the company on a profit-earning basis
from the start.
Although The China Borneo Co., Ltd. has only been operating upon a comparatively small scale, its business has been attended with success. During the years 1910 to 1918, ou an average out-turu of less than one million cubic feet of Timber per annum, the profits (as shown by its audited accounts after deducting Directors remuneration, but before allowing for depreciation) and the amounts written off for depreciation, etc, were as follows:—
To this end modern American logging machinery is in course of instal-
lation. An American saw-mill, with an out-turn capacity of 3,000 cubic feet of
Timber daily, has been purchased by the China Borneo Co., Ltd. and recently
shipped to Borneo. It is anticipated that this machinery will enable the out-
put to be materially increased, and also effect considerable economy in the cost
of production.
The Engineering work of The China Borneo Co., Ltd., have for the past
5 years shown satisfactory and increasing profits. They are equipped with a
patent slip capable of docking vessels up to 450 tons and are able to undertake
repair and constructional work. This patent slip is the only one in North
Borneo, and the Company therefore enjoys a monopoly of this class of work. It
is believed that a further development of these works will prove remunerative.
The business of The China Borneo Co., Ltd., is being taken over as from
the 1st January 1919: The accounts for 1919 have not yet been received, but
there is every reason to believe that the results have been satisfactory.
Profits as per a/c
Depreciation, &c.
Balance
1910
$ 78,381
$32,381
46,000
1911
81,909
35,969
48,000
1912
64,785
25,685
39,100
1913
116,801
33,500
83,391
war.
1914
108,200
34,600
73,709
1915
08,481
31,000
34,451
1916
51,555
30,000
21,355
1917
54,756
7,500
47,256
1918
179,502
29,000
150,502
The falling off in 1915, 1916 and 1917 was caused by dislocation of
business, due to the war.
It is now proposed to take immediate steps to increase the out-put with a view to the fullest possible development of the rich Timber Lands comprised
in the concession.
The Profits of the China Borneo Co., Ltd., above referred to, were made
under prewar conditions or under the unreliable conditions existing during the
A careful examination of the available figures encourages the belief that,
upon the larger scale of operations which it is proposed to organise, and in
consequence of the various economies resulting therefrom, a profit of at least
3d per cubic foot may be reasonably expected without allowing for more than
a very moderate increase, over prewar rates, of the selling prices of Timber.
With the approval of the Chartered Co., Mr. D. M. Matthews, the
Director of the Government Forestry Department in North Borneo, who bas
made a study of the Timber trade in The United States of America and has had
many years practical experience in the Phillipine Islands, bas siguified his will-
ingness to join the Co.'s staff in Borneo,
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365
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