Dec. 1, 1898.] 
XH-E T'ROPICAL A^^RICU'LTUELST, 
CONSOLIDATED ESTATES' COiM. 
PA NY, I^IMITED, 
SEVKNTH ANS^AL RETORT.. 
Authorised Capital £100 000.1 Divldenrl foto 
5,000 I'refened Stiares of £V' each entitled to a 
Cumulative Preferential Divideat) of 8 per ceafc> 
£50,000 : 5,000 Ordinary SJiafes of £10 eaeJi.,, 
£50,000— total £100,600. 
SevcDth Annual Report o-f the Qeueral Mauagers, t& 
bo submitted ko the Shareholdors at the General 
Meeting, to ba held at 31, Great St. Helens, E.G., on 
Wednesday, the 5th October. 
The General Manap'ers have the l^Ieasnre to sub- 
mit their Seventh Annual Rejjort and Balance Sheets 
together with Statement of Accovints lOr the Crop 
Year ending 30th June 1898. 
The Profit and Loss Account shows a balance 
(including £598 3s 3d brought forward from la«t 
:v ear) of £4,070 in Od, after paying Interest on the 
Debentures and an Interim Divideiid of 4 jjcr cent 
on the Preferred Shares. 
To this sum the Genei-al Managers pro]jose to add 
£250 taken from theKeserve Fund, making a total 
of £4,320 4«, and to appropriate tliat amount as 
follows, viz : — 
To pay a Balance Dividend of 4 per 
cent on the Preferred Shares, maMng 8 
percent for tlie whole yeas.' which.- '^ill £■ s. d'. 
absorb ... .... i:ZO& Q 0 
To pay a Dividend of 4 per cant on tile 
New Preferred Shatos requiring . ,, 280 0 0 
» To set aside for rademption O'J & j>er 
cent of the Debentures at i,03 ' , ., §,000, Q 0 
To pay a Dividend of 2 p.er cd«t S.u the 
Old Ordinary fHiares,re<liKi'i^g MO 0 Q 
To p-^y a "Dividend of 1 p'er e«5itoii tlie 
New Ordinary Sharea, reqa-iiiug , ., 745 0 0 
Cj-rryirig forward the Siiflapuea 'Vfet!, 70 4 0 
^'4,320 i 0 
» By the Articles of Asrsffoialiion if is provided that 
five per cent of the Debantiares must be rsd&eoifed 
before any Dividend- can be H'did on the Ordiua«y 
Shares. 
The following shows the resirft of the yearns work- 
ing, viz. :— 
■NBT PBOCliEI>S OS O-EOP. 
1,250,823 lb. Tea at au ayerage £■ s. d. •£ s. 3. 
net price of about 6|d. per 
lb. realized .. ,.32,482 1,5 10 
Cocoa and C»rt!amo'ms ... 903 7 2 
Interest on Accoant . . 86 0 0 
■33::474 12' -0 
tt'O'UV V^l EXPtENPITUTlE 0i>f ESTATES-. 
Messrs. tjfeo. Steuart & Oo.'s £ a. d--. 
drafts— E393,O70 at au aver- 
age of Is. 4 1-lGd. per rupT3e 26,283 3 0 
ies.i Capital Expenditure ,. 666 15 $ 
96,610 9 8 
Less Balance of CoicSt' AdvatniSEB 76 7 8 
£ % d. 
25,540 2 0 
Bonus to Supts.— R5,0C0 at 
Is 4 l-32a, .,. 333 19 a 
■ — r- — .—^25,874 
I 3 
the wcatiier wns favoumWe, the tea rtoslied well, 
and there seemed to be every prospect of a ernp 
out-tiinj coii.siderablv in ©xcf.w of the eetirnates. 
But early ia JaHnaiT' a, severe djoHght set is 
which lasted more or iei59 for three inouths, the 
Sashing v.-as greatly checked and the intake o! 
leaf fell ofj x-eiy^ materially, so that instead of 
a surplus, there i.s ftdeacieucyas eQ!u,),-ra,j with 
the estimabe-s, of ftboiit, 9n,(XiO lb.-., repfesentia" 
a net value of about £2,000 or orer 5 wv S 
on t1,-3 Ordinary Shnre Capital. This deficienoy* 
comlaned wiili tlse high Exchange rf-fprred tn 
boloiv, has sei-ioasly offecied the Coinpany's Diofits- 
thereoy, unfortunately, necessilat-ing a ti'aterial 
reducti(;mn the Dividend on the Ordinai-v Shai-p^ 
and even such Dividend h^s had to be nrovidftd 
some extent out. of the Kc?erve Fund 
Such a di-mighfc as that above referred to Is nuits 
iinii,.ual lu Ceylon and the General Manao-eia do 
■not apprehend a recurrence of it , neverrhefess the 
estimates for the new season have been nreimred 
with cavition, and are asfollow.g :~ P^eimred 
Tea. 
Espejidituro. Crop 
«• lb. 
Wattegode 
HoouoocQtiia 
Bllagall-a 
Tallagall.a 
WariagalJa 
IjiUtlaud 
gora,aa 
9S,4(;o 
70,336 
29,45.3 
6C,955 
54,311 
54,071 
S7,433 
350,000 
240,000 
90,(100 
230,000 
180,000 
172,000 
130,000 
iC7,600 10 i 
The Sea-son ju.sb ov.ci' has heoa a sH)juowhafc 
chequered oiie'; during the frr.^e li ve or nmntlM 
Totals E393,659@ l,3S3.Q0ff 
1/4 = £26,377 
With normal weather ft oon.s!jga.abl^ iucreascon 
tixe above crop E.sthnate niay foii-lv be looked foi. 
With regard to Exchange, is wi!) be eeeaXfe 
uie average aate for three months' draft) has been 
is 4 M6th d, against Is .3.jd ksb year, vi^ „ dift? 
rence of not quite a penny per rupee. The Com- 
])any s expenditure inCeyrou isal>.mt4M0,000rum'"^ 
and It therefore follows that the loss occasionad bv 
The st7'euou.?e%fc whiph the Indian Goyernmenft 
are making to main tain a high e^rchause by arSS 
eial means tio donbt within the know^adov of +bA 
Shareholclei-s. Tire ^vhole snbj«.h tZt%t t 
quired into by a Special Indian Currency Commit; 
tee, whose Reporfe ig awaited with some anxietr. 
The enclosed Memorandum on the subiect nre' 
imre£ a foi-tnighfc ago for thn informitioa of 
Planters in Ceylo« and h'outh ludlii may be intei' 
€sting to the Sluareholdcrs, 
Since the date oi the last Annual Report tha. 
Company has acquired a group of Estates which x^Tll 
henceforth bo known as «orana, regartlinc whicli 
full particulars were given to the Shareholaer^ io 
the Circular Letter of 2.3ra November iwid ^t tJ,« 
Meeting held on tha Ist December Sst. ^ 
This g,onp adjoin^ Tall^gaiht wiiich hmMtherto 
Fovetl cue ot the Company's masc pro-tucfVe and 
remtinerative &tate-s, and as the coitd-tion. on 
Sorana are almost precisely a.inilar the General 
Managens have ev^y h„,« that it will p, ,n-ean 
eseetleiit puichaw. O.'he Ksiate wa.s^ tfnik-ed ,m 
vwrp,- moderate term-s fro... a Si«haIP.=«3 Pronrieior, 
a.a4 ag^.o'i deal ct exi^ndirnrenn h.ul,<ings. wiu-hi^ 
iiory, etc.. was necessary to briHg It into a 
thoroughly 8rttisfacto.-y condition j of this ^xdhd. 
diture two.thlIxI^^ have beea ciiargeil to the Far- 
cliasG Account ajaa Ofte-Miirj^ *p trie &ap*nrr ajwl Ex- 
te»^i,o.n iVsspirptf " ' " 
