76 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



March 1, 1913. 



(-£^15,600). It is satisfactory to note that 

 the company's liabilities have been re- 

 duced by about ;£^5ooo in the half-year. 

 to ;£33,8oo. This was due to a reduc- 

 tion of i^iooo on the overdraft to 

 £^3900, and to the decrease in deposits 

 already mentioned. On the other hand, 

 the sundry creditors rose, by about 

 ;£40OO, to ^^'30,000. 



At the time of writing, this company's 

 shares (300,000 fully paid to £i), are 

 selling at 28s. The return on this price 

 is just under 5| per cent., which is on 

 the low side, for a concern such as this. 

 Still, as regards the assets value, to 

 which, however, the investor attaches 

 much less importance, the shares are not 

 really dear. The surplus assets amount 

 to ;!f369,542, securing paid-up capital 

 of i^300,ooo ; insurance and repairs re- 



serve, iJ"5 5,649 ; dividend equalisation 

 reserve, £i^,'ig^ ; and work out at 24s. 

 8d. per share. This, of course, assumes 

 that the insurance and repairs reserve is 

 a joint one, in which respect we have 

 no good reason to think other^vise. In 

 the above price of 28s. there is, accord- 

 ingly, 3s. 4d. for goodwill, in the aggre- 

 gate, ^^50,400, under 2\ years' purchase 

 on the past five years' average profits. 



Notwithstanding this moderate esti- 

 mate of the goodwill and inner reserves, 

 the shares are, probably, not worth more 

 than 28s., for there is no good ground 

 to expect an increase in the dividend 

 rate at present, while the earning power 

 of the company is always liable to be 

 seriously prejudiced by the bad harbour 

 bars on the North Coast, and by the 

 ever-increasing labour demands. 



National /»ev/cK'.] 



New Forces io Old China. 



[China 



Sj'.ional iJctifu .] [China. 



Russian Demands. 



President Yuan Shih-k'ai : 'Art; you quite sure this is all ? ' 



