^^4  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [Sept,  i,  1896. 
Ceylon  Company.  The  debenture  issues  amounted 
to  ,tT95,200,  and  the  interest  upon  them  at  6 per  cent 
in  1890 — the  first  year  of  the  new  Company’s  work- 
ing— exceeded  the  nett  bajance  left  after  its  payment. 
A large  area  of  the  estates  had  then  been  planted  with 
tea,  half  of  wliich  was  immature,  and  as  this  gradually 
came  into  full  bearing  the  revenue  of  the  Company 
improved  to  a moderate  extent.  The  greatest  gain 
to  the  Company,  however,  has  been  from  the  prudent 
financial  policy  adopted  by  the  iloard.  Seeing  that 
the  debentures  were  a heavy  drag,  they  devoted  all 
their  efforts  to  reduce  the  total.  Each  year  a certain 
sum  was  set  aside  from  revenue,  and  realisations 
of  a part  of  the  estates  also  took  place  each  year  for 
a time.  So  far  did  this  determination  to  reduce  the 
chargee  go,  that  it  was  se*l  down  in  the  articles  of 
association  that  no  dividend  above  3 per  cent  should 
be  paid  upon  the  shares  until  the  debentui-es  had 
been  reduced  to  £50,000.  This  clause,  excellent  in 
motive,  proved  in  practice  rather  Quixotic,  and 
has  been  since  rescinded.  The  realisations  of 
property  in  the  past  five  years  amounted  to 
.£68,500,  and.  together  with  the  sums  spent  out 
of  profits,  enabled  the  debentures  to  be  reduced  to 
£122,500.  A great  improvement  took  place  last  year 
when  the  outstanding  Six  per  Cents  were  i-eplaced  by 
a Four-and-a-Half  per  Cent  issue,  which  will  be 
paid  off  by  annual  redemptions  of  .£7,500.  The  work- 
ing of  the  Company  in  the  past  six  years  is  shown  in 
the  following  taole  : — 
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1890  ..  93,879  71,756  11,712  10,410  6,677  195.200  nil 
1891  ..  83,449  71,412  11,393  15,215  6,156  185,190  14 
1892  . . 86,206  64,903  10,903  11,090  7,187  175,410  2i 
1893  ..102,124  71,716  10,364  20,045  8,719  170,880  3 
1894  ..100,923  64,569  9,920  26,466  7,837  149,880  3 
1895  ..116,429  68,940  7,577  40,.365  19,115  122,.500  5 
The  chief  factors  in  the  wonderful  fourfold  multi- 
plying of  the  nett  profits  in  the  period  have  been 
the  reduction  of  the  interest  upon  debentures  and 
the  economical  working  of  the  estates.  Thus,  while 
the  outturn  of  tea  doubled  in  the  time,  and  gross 
revenue  rose  by  about  28  per  cent.,  the  working  ex- 
penses actually  diminished  by  nearly  £3000.  This 
may  be  partly  accounted  for  by  the  sales  of  portions 
of  the  estates,  as  doubtless  the  least  remunerative 
properties  would  be  disposed  of.  The  sums  spent  on 
tea  extensions  and  machinery  and  buildings  have 
been  carried  to  capital,  but  heavy  reductions  took 
place  each  year  in  the  latter  item  on  account  of 
depreciation,  so  that,  with  considerable  additions  each 
year,  the  item  of  machinery  and  buildings  stood  on 
the  last  balance-sheet  at  £7221,  as  against  £9938  in 
1890.  Doubtless  this  item  will  be  written  off  entirely 
in  a year  or  two.  The  tea  extension  account  is  mixed 
up  with  the  sums  spent  on  fresh  land  purchased, 
and  this  combined  asset  figured  last  December  for 
.£44,604,  as  compared  with  .£26,419  in  1890.  It  would 
b«  wise  policy  to  divide  up  the  item,  and  then  the 
expenditure  upon  tea  extension  could  be  written 
down,  if  the  x^ractice  of  strong  tea  companies  is  to 
be  followed.  The  reserve  of  the  Company  now 
amounts  to  .£15,000  and  it  holds  £23,171  of 
investments,  about  the  composition  of  which 
it  would  be  interesting  to  have  a little  infor- 
mation. The  recent  reduction  in  the  interest 
upon  debentures  will  further  diminish  the  annual 
charge  by  about  ,£2,000,  and  the  cash  balances  are 
very  good.  So  careful  is  the  Hoard  of  this  Comijany 
about  the  chances  of  tlie  future,  that  out  of  its  nett 
profit  last  year  of  £40,.365,  only  .£14,944  was  distri- 
buted in  the  dividend  of  5 percent.  Of  the  balance 
pf  £25,421,  some  £10,189  wag  takeu  to  pay  off  de. 
bentures  and  meet  the  expense  of  issuing  new  d e- 
bentures,  £5,000  was  placed  to  reserve,  and  £10,182 
carried  forward  as  a provision  for  retirement  of 
debentures  in  the  current  year.  The  area  owned  by 
the  Company  is  one  of  the  largest  under  one  manage- 
nient  in  Ceylon,  and  as  the  Company  furnishes  more 
information  than  Ceylon  companies  usually  do  as  to 
the  yield  and  price  obtained  for  its  tea,  we  are  able 
to  give  the  following  table  : — 
Total 
Under 
Tea  over 
Four 
Average 
Gross 
Year.  Area. 
Tea. 
Y^ears 
Y’ield. 
Sale 
old. 
Price 
per  lb. 
Acres. 
Acres. 
Acres. 
lb. 
d. 
1890..  17,764 
1891..  16,791 
1892. . 16,756 
1893..  17,273 
1894..  17,.323 
1895..  16,6.30 
9,266 
9,236 
9,552 
9,7.50 
10,048 
10,347 
5,400 
6 700 
8,000 
8,740 
8,970 
9,192 
1.518.000 
2.008.000 
2,020,780 
2.638.000 
2.742.000 
3,276,009 
llj 
n 
9i 
8i 
8i 
7| 
• thus  a lair  quantity  of  plantings  to  come 
nito  bearing,  and  as  maturity  is  not  reached  until  after 
the  sixth  year  of  planting,  the  outturn  of  tea  should 
increase  considerably  in  the  next  few  yeais  if  seasons 
continue  favourable.  The  price,  however  has  fallen 
rather  sharply  so  that  the  laiger  output  may  not 
mean  very  much  increased  profit.  But  without  this  the 
‘o  a position  to  distribute 
largei  dividends  at  no  distant  date. 
METROPOLITAN  NOTES. 
rp,  f ■ r London,  July  2. 
The  following  are  from  a London  daily’s 
“ ( ity  article  •’ 
Impoiitant  Companies. 
THE  UllITTSlI  NORTH  BORNEO  COMPANY. 
While  the  Chartered  Company  of  British  South 
Africa  has  been  forcing  the  yface  and  attracting  the 
attention  of  almost  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in 
the  United  Kingdom  (we  know  many  enthusiasts  who 
bought  shares  in  the  names  of  their  children  and 
who  paid  £7  or  £8  for  them),  the  Chartered  Company 
of  British  North  Borneo  has  fallen  out  of  notice  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  transfer  fees  for  the  whole 
of  1895  amounted  to  £18  12s  6d,  showing  that  only 
149  deeds  were  lodged  during  twelve  months  or 
barely  more  than  ten  each  Stock  Exchange  Settle- 
ment. 
In  presenting  their  reports  and  balance-sheet  from 
1st  .faiuiary  to  31st  December,  1895,  the  directors 
of  the  Britisli  North  Borneo  Company  have  but  a 
modest  tale  to  tell.  The  total  receipts  ou  revenue 
account  amount  to  £10,210,  while  the  expenditure 
reaches  £33,260  in  Borneo  and  £1,300  in  London.  Need- 
less to  say,  no  dividend  is  declared  upon  the  called-un 
capital  of  £497,000.  ^ 
We  are  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  the  Borneo 
Company  ba-s  a future  before  it,  and  that  the  steady 
and  withal  quiet  iiianagemont  of  the  country  promises 
good  results  later  on.  British  North  Borneo  consists 
of  some  30,000  acres  of  land,  so  is  slightly  larger  in 
extent  than  the  Crown  Colony  of  Ceylon,  which  lies  in 
more  or  less  the  same  latitude,  and  grow's  more  or  less 
the  same  tropical  products. 
During  the  early  days  of  Ceylon,  or,  indeed,  during 
the  two  centuries  when  the  island  nominally  belonged 
to  the  Portuguese  and  the  Dutch,  the  jungle-clad  hills 
of  tlie  Central  Province  were  untouched,  and  even  un- 
explored. Yet  now  the  greater  part  of  the  revenue  is 
derived  from  the  Central  Province.  In  Borneo  the 
coast  lands  have  alone  been  made  use  of,  and  the 
planters  of  tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa  have  yet  to  be  at- 
tracted. 
The  directors  are  to  be  commended  for  the  full  table 
which  they  give  of  the  imports  and  exports  of  the 
years  1894  and  1895.  From  the  subjoined  examples  a 
good  deal  can  bo  gleaned  of  the  actual  development  of 
the  country,  the  figures  speaking  for  themselves  and 
requiring  no  coiiiiiient  : — ’ 
