1934-01-26 — Page 12

KOWLOON'S NEWEST THEATRE-

TO OPEN SHORTLY

ALHAMBRA

THENTRE

Scheduled to open shortly the Alhambra Theatre will be one of the most up-to date cinema houses in the whole Colony, being equipped at it is with the latest devices for the better enjoyment of the best pictures.

..

PACIFIC ORIENTAL MONTHLY CARGO AND PASSENGER SERVICE M.S. SELANDIA" Sailing on or about 30th JAN.

For Manila, Philippine Ports

For Shanghai, Los Angeles

San Francisco, etc.

19th FEB.

CARGO AND PASSENGERS ACCEPTED FOR MANILA, SHANGHAI, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO, VANCOUVER, SEATTLE, ETC.

-THROUGH BILLS OF EADING ISSUED TO

OVERLAND POINTS.

Excellent Passenger Accommodation (1st class only), Passenger fares Hongkong/San Francisco from G#185. For Freight and Passage, etc. please Apply to:

The East Asiatic Co., Ltd. The Chinese American Shipping Co.

Agenta:

JOHN MÄNNERS & CO., LTD.

Office: Mercantile Bank Bldg. (Top Floor)..

TELEPHONE: 24071.

Agent:

HONG SLING

7, Queen's Rd. Central.

SHARE CAPITAL DECLINE

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1934

BIG FALL IN SHARE VALUES

THE OIL MARKET

Gasoline Trade Shows

Local Stocks Touch Low Level Records During 1933

EFFECTS OF TRADE DEPRESSIÓN

In reviewing the share market ; about as had happened during the for the year just concluded, it is past

sudden year. A violent

during

the

קס

the

part of

Increase

"It is a surprising fact that despite the trade depression. the gasoline business showed a slight Improvement", said a prominent dealer to our representative. The speaker added that in times like this, it would be gratifying enough to report normal business let alone improvement at all. This tributed to the improvement in slight increase our informant at

the interior of China insofar as road development and its atten- dant increase in the use of motor

any

vehicles is concerned.

The speaker added that this is more natleeable in Kwangsi than any other province by reason of the fact that the Ewangst Gov- ernment has been steadily forging ahead with road development and the suppression of bandits.

Important to bear in mind the slump might have spelt disaster various reasons, which have con- "Bulls" have a sporting chance of tributed to the substantial drop doing something In the share' in prices of nearly all local stocks. market at to-day's level of prices. no doubt that the The general trade depression in There is

the "Bears" have had things all their the Colony did not leave

past The Own way during the

year, share market. unscathed.

but as things are to-day, there is business of many local firms of long standing was subjected to little room for any further success professional serious competition past twelve months and the effect Bears". There are quite a num- of that competition was reflected ber of good investments available for anybody with loose money to in the share market.

Some years ago it was not safe lavest profitably with a distinct possibility of advance in

for a foreigner to travel any con- rates during 1934.

siderable distance by car as hold- The falling off in the marketups were rather the rule than the value of shares of various local exception but of recent years this companies during the year has menace has been wiped of the bean computed at the following

map until to-day it would be figures:

quite safe for a lady to drive her uwn car without fear of any such interference. The result is that the public are going about more freely and that spells an increase the gasoline trade-an in-

་

Undue Inflation in the past be gan to tell Its tale during 1933. when many stocks reached new low level records. Principal among this class of shares are China Lights, where a heavy fall in price was recorded...

Land shares, due to the putting up of huge office blocks and ex- tensive building in the residential areas by competitors, showed a drop. Many of the local indus tries were effected by competition, while the drop in the value Steamboat shares may be due to a continuation of bad business and severe competition afforded by the Kowloon-Canton Railway.

of

The effects of bad trade are such that holders of shares in local stocks which are fairly ex- tensively dealt in, find à differen- ce of roughly 830,000,000 in the market value of their holdings

A few of the stocks which are considered as almost gilt-edged. such as Wharves, Lands, and Electrics, showed a decline equi- valent almost to 25 per cent of the aggregate fall in values. To offset this depreciation, at least two of the other good stacks, such as Ferries and Trams, showed a slight appreciation,

There is a general feeling that money is scarce in Hongkong. As a matter of fact there is still a lot of money here available for

·solld investments. For instance.

Wharves Decks Providents Hotels... Lands...... Humphreys Realtles China Lights Electrics

Ropes Cements

Watsons...

Amusements. Steamboats

...$2,000.000 2.000.000

... 1.280.000 4,300,000 1,200,000 600,000 $60,000 7,200,000 1,500,000

-BC0,000, 2,520,000 913,500 1.200,000 640.000

$26,793,500 The rises registered during the year in some of our local stocks represent totals as follows:-

Banks

...$22,400,000 Unions

6,000,000 Douglases

1,500,000 390,000 800,000

Trams Ferties

$31,090,000

ALHAMBRA

look at the capital appreciation UNIQUE DESIGN FOR NEW

im two of our Sterling stocks,

namely, Hongkong Banks and

Unions? In the past the market

BUILDING

in

crease that is keeping on despite the fact that other lines of busi- ness are faring none too well

Talking about the business in Cariton, the speaker said that Canton has developed beyond re- cognition and the number motor cars buses and lorries" that are being put on the road have increased enormously. This again has its attendant good effect on the gasoline and lubricating all business,

Saturation Point.

of

Turning to local conditions, this gentleman said that in his opinion the number of motor vehicles here has very nearly reached satura- tion point and he did not think there would be very many, new car owners in the immediate fu- ture. Bo far as the past twelve months is concerned, however, a alight increase has been recorded though this increase is hot so great as to be anything outstand- ing.

Kerosen, OIL

value of these shares was more OVER 680 SEATS IN DRESS business, our informant said that

CIRCLE

First Run Films

or less governed by the rate of exchange, that is, if the exchange went up, it was almost certain that Banks would go down and vice versa, and' the return on these Investments in the past showed something like six per cent, whereas to-day the exchange Scheduled for opening on or is much higher than it was a about January 28," the new 'year ago and the demand for Alhambra Theatre in Nathan these two stocks is still good, Road, Kowloon, will be one of the Banks closing at roughly at $1,830 most modern cinema houses, not buyers and Unions at 8585. The only on the mainland,, but in the

whole Colony. total capital appreciation in mar- ket value of these two stocks is

With a total seating capacity of 1,795, the Alhambra will be able roughly $28,000,000,

to accommodate more patrons

upon

Speaking of the kerosene oll

this has been rather complicated, due to the local distillation trade and also because the tariff on it is by no means scientific. Some years ago, the Southern Govern ment put on an internal tax of $1 per tin and then, following certain political changes, this in- termal tax was put off and an Import Tariff of 82 per tin was brought into force. >

This went on for some time, on the business until concerns found that

having a serious effect

they could turn out a fairly good kind of kerosene out of light fuel

this to get over the Import Tarif IL All the large Companies did

and things went along smoothly

until the for a while

Bouthern Government got wise to it and levied an additional internal tax scale as the

sult The Theatre is fan-shaped with the seats facing one of the corners. This, it is stated, will afford not only an excellent view of the film from every seat in the theatre, but ties for sound projection more per- will also render acoustic proper-

Paraffin Wax."

The volume of business conclud-than any other theatre in Hong ed by the members of the two Kong. Exchanges during the year just ↑ Unique features, owing to the concluded shows a very big fall-nature of the allotment ing off. The placing of Philippine which the Alhambra is built, have Gold Mining shares on the Hong-been employed by the architects, on about the same kong market certainly helped Messrs. T. C. Wong and Company, business to a very great extent in the construction of the build-Import Tarix imposed by the Nan- king Government, with the re- and very large blocks were brought ing

that kerosent up from the Philippines and sold

turned out from light fuel oil costs as much DA this market at rising rates.

as the imported kind. The prices, however, were rushed up a little bit too quickly as the majority of those mining com- panies were new concerns, though

This business has been reduced with very good future no doubt. fect.

considerably on account of.. the The immediate prospects, how-

At the main entrance in Nathan heavy taxation and the unfavour- ever, certainly did not warrant Road the waiting lobby, which is able competition, and now, over the rapid rise in share, values.

tastefully decorated, will cover an and above the import tax of $2 As regards our local speculative area of no less than 2,000 square per picul, the Southern Govern- stocks, Cements suffered most in feet. In order that patrons leav- ment have levied an internal tax their depreciated value during the ing a show will not clash with of 86, thus rendering the price year. These shares after falling those waiting for the next per-prohibitive for much buying. away to round about 86 for the formance, separate exits have been Another thing that is contribu- "combined" recovered to a little made. Spacious waiting lobbiesting to this decline in the busi- over 28 on the strength of nego- are provided for the back, middle ness is that the Government are

front stall patrons, with tlaflons that were pending at the and

doing their best" to suppress the time for the supply of a large special exits leading to Soochow

use of candies made from this quantity of cement to the neigh-Lane and Nathan Road,

wax for purposes of worship. The Dress Circle is the largest Shares. Value in 1931-2.. Value Dec. 1933. bouring territory. There was at of any Theatre In the Colony This, however, is only a slight

stage of the negotiations every hope that they would be having a clear span of 110 feet and matter, for the people are, to all and purposes, doing - as successfully carried through, but a depth from back to front of 52

these much worshipping with feet. upon the terms and conditions

candles as before, the only dit- In May, 1932, the whole rein- not being finally agreed to, shares forced concrete framework was ference being that they now do prices suffered a recessiOU. The completed, and successfully passed it privately. failure of these negotiations was a test which, occupying several Bumming up the whole matter, regrettable, since if they had been days, was carried out in conjunc- the dealer who was interviewed successfully carried through there with the representative engineer said that the cause of the den was every hope that the factory of the Building Authority.

cline is just a plain economic might have been re-opened and

The load applied to the Dress. fact people cannot buy so much cement manufacture, continue to Circle was equal to three times as they used. be carried on to the substantial the weight of the total capacity in benefit of the shareholders in spectators, and the total defection particular and the Colony in noted was three-sixteenths of an general from an industrial point inch. On removal of the test load, the balcony resumed its original of view.

position.

Extra tie-beams have been in-

The following table shows how the value of local, shares has. fallen in the last two years. The figures represent the market value of the shares of some of the local companies in 1931-32, as compared to the end of last year.

Gross Market

Docks ....

*Hotels

Land

$352,000,000

Gross Market

$293,000,000

15,500,000 79,000,000

Hong Kong Banks ......

160,000

anton Insurancé.....

10,000

15,500,000

Unton Insurance

135,000

China Underwriters

256,000

Hong Kong Fires

8,000

buglas Steamboats ...

20,000

.88,000,000 1,600,000 11,830,000 580,000

п

450,000 10,600,000

790,000

Hong Kong, Canton &

Macão Steamboats...

80,000

2,480,000

1,000,000

Indo Chinas....

95,178

4,330,000

3,220,000

Star Ferries

80,000

harves

80.000

7,820,000 13,920,000

8,000,000

67,640

1,000,000

2,435,000 18,400,000

300,000

Realties

200,000

28,200,000 3,600,000

Humphreys

200,000

4,500,000

China Lights

1,000,000

32,000,000

9,200,000 1,000,000 6.150,000 21,000,000 1,200,000 2,400,000 9,650,000.

Flectrics

450,000

38,000,000

32,700,000

Hong Kong Trams ....

$50,000

15,800,000-

13,812,000

Green Island Cements.

400,000-

17,200,000

Providents

589,500

3,835,000

294,800

1,031,600

Constructions-

100,000

£30,000

328,000

1,000,000

Dairy Farm

250,000

8,500,000

HAK Canton Ices

40,000

334,000

Hong Kong Ropes.....

200,000

4,750,000

Lane, Crawfords .........

•150,000

1,245,000

120,000.

$2,200,000

Watsons...

Amusements ...........

74,000 Call of 2.75 pd. on new shares in December, 1933,

2,049,800

1,980,000 1,563,000 232,000 -200,000 350,000 8,750,000 100,000 1,300,000 675,000 780,000 336,000

.one

There is another reason for the big drop in Cement shares: it is

.

te counteract excessive typhoon

time when the local company was secondary stresses, faced with severe competition:

intents

Business in crude oil and diesel oil: goes on improving with the „Industrial-development in China. More plants are being installed

more diesel oll, and consequently

the fact that a call of $3.75 wax culcated in the design of the roof and with each new one; so much made, on the new shares at. a wind pressure and to reduce lubricating oil, must be consumed.

The Hong Kong Amusementa,

ta, Canton has recently put up a Op the whole, however, the Ltd, the owners of the new new electric plant in Honam and Hongkong share, market to-day is Theatre, state that nothing but in all the villages up-country In a much healthier condition than first release aims of the highest where even the smallest plant is a year ago and may be that it is quality, similar to those shown at bullt, diesel oil used, and of be course here again, lubricating" oll all to the good that depreciation the Quetn's Theatre, will in prices was gradually brought screened at the Alhambra.

is tied up with that.

FLOUR MARKET FALLS OFF

Big Falling Off In Imports

We are indebted to a local im-; mental imports at below market porter for the follow report on the tates" under the Soong Fifty flour market in Hongkong:- Million Dollar Commodity Loan

In commenting on market in Hong Kong during 1933

the flour with the U. 8.A.

the most eloquent expression of conditions prevailing is afforded following agures: by the mere comparison of the

Imports into Hong Kong for 1932

---over 5,000,000 sacks.. Imports into Hong Kong or 1933

—about 2,900,000 sacks." In ascribing the cause for this decline we give first place to the fact that the World Depression has in the recent months moved its centre more closely over our

are

markets and now is felt here to its fullest intensity. However, there

further contributory factors that have played impor- tant parts and the first of these

The year closes with heavy stocks on hand, up-country de- mand "light and deliverles slow. Nevertheless there are signs from abroad-feeble though they may yet be--that world conditions are beginning to improve and so even If the future here now looks very black it well to remember that often it is "darkest just before dawIL"

WOOD OIL

was the establishment of an im- Substantial Business port duty into China on foreign four. A tax of 125 C.G.U..per

With U.S.A. pleul was instituted last. May and at rates then prevailing this was the equivalent of an ad valorem duty of nearly 8 per cent. Fur- "Export to thermore, while this charge was oil," writes a dealer in that line. imposed on foreign flour the imhas been quite substantial, so portation of wheat continued free much so that buyers have now of duty thus placing the Shang- large stocks and are not very keen hal Flour Mills in a beneficial on buying, despite the low prices position, much to the detriment of | prevailing.”

America of wood"

local Importers of foreign flour. The price at the beginning of Now, since December 16th, this the year was $22 per ploul, but it already heavy impost on flour has went down in May to 819.50. In been

A

trebled and further ship- August, however, it advanced ments-of an essential foodstuff-again to $23.50, but since then it will have to pay a tariff of ap- has been gradually going down and proximately 25 рег cent. ad at the close of the year, stood at valorem at current, exchange and $19. prices. It is true that coinciden- The outlook for the new year is tally with this increase in the not especially bright, and much duty on flour à tax on wheat was will depend or the exchange. instituted but this is only about

The business in wood oil between one half as onerous a burden and

South China and Europe is in- thus continues the discrimination creasing every year.

The Arst in favour of the Shanghai Mills.

shipment in bulk took place dur- A third factor in depressing the ing the year. The price wood oll volume of business done has been in Europe, however, is below deal- the constant threat of Govern-er's cost in Hong Kong.

(Continued on Pages 11 and 12)

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