March 19, 1906.)
Mr. VEITCH seconded, and the proposition vis carried.
The CHAIRMAN-I beg to propose the onfirmation of resolution No. 2. It reads:- That the Board, through its Secretary, shall make a Statement of the Company as from the ist day of May, 1905, to the 31st day of December, 1905, which shall be duly audited and presented to the Shareholders at the next Ordinary Meeting of the Company to be held during 1906 and that, inasmuch as the Accounts of the Company have already been audited and presented to the Shareholders to the 30th April, 1905, no further or other Statements of the Accounts of the Company for the year 1905 shall be called for by, or presented to, the Shareholders in respect of Article 130 as this day substitut- ed."
Mr. DAVIS seconded the proposition, and it was agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN-That is all the business, gentlemen. Thanks for your attendance.
GEO. FENWICK AND CO., LTD.
The seventeenth ordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Messrs. Geo. Fenwick and Co., Limited, was held at the Hongkong Hotel on March 10th. Mr. A. Rodger presided, and there were also present,-Messrs. W. Parlane, J. Rodger, J. I. Andrew, J. McCorquodale, A.
Forbes, J. D. Kinnaird and W. G. Winterburn. The Secretary having read the notice calling the meeting,
The CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen,-With your permission we will adopt our usual practice and take the report and statement of accounts as read. Your directors regret that the year under are concerned, has shown a slackness of business review, so far as shipbuilding and engineering
through nearly the whole of the time. Con- sequently when tendering for work estimates had to be cut very fine to compete with the keen competition that existed, but I am glad to say we secured a fair share of what work was offering, although we had to be content with a smaller profit than usual. Meanwhile we are asing our utmost endeavours towards retrench- ment in every department of the establishment without sacrificing efficiency. We had hoped for a briskness in trade setting in with the close of the Russian and Jap nese war, batin this we have been disappointed. The lanuches, plant, ma chinery and buildings have been kept in a fairly good state of repair. The report and statement of acconuts now placed before you state very clearly the Company's position, therefore, it is needless for me to go into figures or details concerning them, and we trust the appropriation of profits as presented meets with your approval. Our reclamation at North Point is nearing completion. This property should be a good asset in the near future, as it is a magnificent site and a suitable one for many purposes. Owing to the abandonment of the Praya East reclamation scheme, accompanied by the depression in the land marke' and a general tightness of money in the Colony (temporary, I hope), we think it advisable to continue carrying on our business, in the mean- time, in our present premises at Wanchi aud hare petitioned the authorities for permission to do so, as the present time is very inopportune for selling land or calling up more capital, and one of these two things we shall require to do shortly, if we proceed at once with the erection of the new works at North Point. This matter is having our careful attention and serious consideration. Mr. Winterbarn, our present general manager, who is leaving the Colony in May, has resigned his position after ourteen years' service, throughout which time he bas worked hard and done his best to promote the welfare of the Company. We all wish him, I am-sure, every success in his new undertaking and hope he may be in a p sition to place some good orders with us before long. Mr. Andrew, who has been in the Company's service for nearly ten years and understands the routine of our business, having carried on Mr. Winter- burn's duties during his absence on leave for ten months in 1901, has been appointed to succeed him. I do not think there is any further useful information I can give you, but before moving the adoption of the report and statement of accounts, I shall be very pleased to answer to the best of my ability any questions relating to them
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. There being no questions,
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report. This was seconded by Mr. KINNAIRD and carried.
Mr. J. RODGER proposed, and Mr. J. MCCOR QUODALE seconded, the re-election of Mr W. Parlane as director. Agreed to.
Mr. T. ARNOLD was re-elected director, on the proposition of Mr. ANDREW, seconded by Mr. FORBES.
The CHAIRMAN-That is all the business, gentlemen. Dividend warrants will be ready on Monday.
CHINA AND MANILA STEAMSHIP CO., LTD.
The twenty-third ordinary general meeting of shareholders in this Company was held at Shewan, Tomes and Co., the office of the general managers, Messrs. March 14th Hon. Mr. R. Shewan presided, and there' were also present-Messrs. N. A. Siebs. H. P. White, D. E. Brown. A. V. Apcar (directors), G. Moffatt (secretary), J. R. Michael, G. Somer. ville, J. Yonog and Captain Tillett.
The notice convening the meeting having bean read,
The CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen,—With your permission we will take the report and accounts which were issued on 28th February
as read. The result is slightly better than that of last year, the working account showing a balance of $1 2 057,95 as against $95,146.62 for 1904. After making allowance for depreciation and patting $100 to res∙ry fand as required by the Articles of Association, it is proposed to pay a dividend of 6 per cent,, absorbing $39,000, review was a very uneventful one for us, cargo and carry forward 86,563.45 The year under
was scarce, and although sugar from Manila was offering rather more freely, the rates of freight offered for it were quite naremunerative. Everything that call be done has been done to keep down expenses, Lnt pas eugar steamers of this class must be kept up to a certain standard, and we therefore doubt if more can now be done in the direction of economy. You will notice that we have reduced the debt to our bankers from $270,000, to $190,000, and that we made a saving in interest of about $10,000, This was partly effected by the sa o of 1,72 € shares at $20, which with $8,625 formerly at oredit of forfeited sharos raised the capital to the round sum of $650 000. There is nothing special to remark about the balance sheet, but I may say for your satisfaction that the amounts against sundry debtors and outstanding frights have since almost all been collected. As regards the present year, I fear our prospects are not very rosy, for I am sorry to say that so far we have not begun well, our earnings for January aud February being rather less than for the same months last year. Before I move the adoption of the report and accounts I shall be pleased to answer any questions.
Mr. MICHAEL-I have a few questions, Mr. Chairman. Have we made any saving in the premium of insurance since we have written
down the value of the steamers ?
The CHAIRMAN-Yes, yes. Mr. MICHAEL How much? The CHAIRMAN-I couldn't tell you off hand, but a very considerable sum.
Mr. MICHAEL There is another question I should like to bring to the attention of the Board. Since we have written down the value of the steamers to practically half the cost, is it necessary that we should write down, in accordance with the Articles of Association, even now, seeing that we have already written down fifty per cent, of their value ?
The CHAIRMAN-Yes. They still go on depreciating, are second hand boats on the market, and we could not sell them probably for what they stand at.
Mr. MICHAEL-Quite so; but the boats cost originally a million and a half.
The CHAIRMAN-The value of steamers is a matter of opinion, and you must leave that to us. Mr. MICHAEL—So you think it must neces. sarily be done?
The CHAIRMAN—Undoubtedly I do.
There being no further questions, the CHAIR- MAN moved that the report and accounts as presented be adopted and passed.
Mr. BROWN seconded, and the motion was carried.
205
Mr. MICHAEL moved that Messrs N. A. Siebs, D. E. Brown, H. P White and A. T. Apcar he re-elected to the consulting committee.
Captain TILLETT seconded. Carried. It was proposed by Mr. WHITE, seconded by Mr. SIEBS, and carried, that Messrs, T. Arnold and W. H. Potts be re-elected auditors.
The Chairman-That is all the business, gentlemen. I am obliged to you for your attendance. Dividend warrants will be delivered on application.
HONGKONG ROPE MANUFAC-
TURING CO., LTD.
The twenty-second ordinary general meeting of shareholders in the Hongkong Rope Manu- facturing Co., Ltd., was held at the office of the general managers, Messrs. Showan, Tomes and Co., on March 14th. Hon. Mr. R. Shewau was in the chair, other shareholders present being-Messrs. H. P. White and D. E. Brown (directors), R. Hancock (secretary). J. R. Michael, T. Arnold and Fung Wa-chun.
The Secretary read the notice convening the meeting, and
The CHAIRMAN Baid Gentlemen, -As usual we will, if you have issued on the 28th February as read. We no objection, take the report and accounts which were
baye a very lean year to chronicle. Business in rope throughout 1905 was bad, and with nothing special in our favour we had a great many disturbing factors to contend against. It is true the total turn-over was little short of that of the previous year, but the average price
general depression in shipping and also to the obtained for rope was lower. while the cost of hemp was as high as ever. Owing to the
redaction of the fleet on this station, our local sales show a severe falling off, and although we sold more in the north, doubtless on account of the war, we had to compete there with adul- terated Japanese rope, and to accept very poor prices. Then, too, the high rates of exchange ruling gave us smaller returns in silver from sales made in gold using countries. Lastly, the price of con was, as you all know, unusally high. Naturally our profits are less, and we therefore recommend instead of our usual dividend of $10.00 per share a dividend of of $9.00 per share, which is equal to 18 per cent., a good dividend still, seeing that deprecia- tion has been well provided for. We propose also putting the nominal sum of $1,000 to the reserve fund, as by the Articles of Association placed something to reserve. This will leave we cannot declare a dividend until we have
$5,813.29 to be carried forward. As regards the accounts I have only one thing to point ont, and that is, no credit has been taken for the dividend amounting to $3040.00 due from our investment in China Provident shares, as it was not paid till 1906, and it will therefore appear in this current year's account. I mention this because our not taking credit for this item till it is actually paid cause this year's profit and. loss to appear some $3,000 worse than it really is as compared with 1904 when credit was taken for a similar dividend. As to the future, we have begun this year very well, and it is a satisfactory feature that, if our local sales have fallen off, our sales elsewhere have increased, but
fear that as long as Manila hemp keeps at its present high level of price and poor level of quality, we cannot expect any marked improve- ment on former years, especially while shipping continues dull. Before I move the adoption of the report and accounts I shall be pleased to answer any questions from shareholders.
No questions were asked, and the Chairman moved that the report and accounts as presented. be adopted and passed.
MT. MICHAEL seconded the motion, which was carried.
Messrs. A. J. Raymond, D. E. Brown, H. P. White and Dr. J. W. Noble were re-elected to. the consulting committee, on the motion of Mr. ARNOLD, seconded by Mr. Fung Wa-chun.
Mr. WHITE proposed the re-election of Messrs. T. Arnold and W. H. Potts as auditors. Mr. BROWN seconded and the proposition was agreed to.
The CHAIRMAN-That is all the business, gentlemen. I thank you for your attendance. Dividend warrants can be had on application,
سعد محمد
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