THE TROPICAL AGRICULTtjRISt. 
195 
Sept, i, 1897 .] 
TEA COMPANIES AS AN 
INVESTMENT. 
Indian and Cejdon tea companies have lately at- 
tracted a great deal of attention, both from the 
remarkable development which has taken place in 
the industry during the last few years and also because 
of the very profitable nature of the enterprise. With 
a view to obtaining reliable data to guide intending 
investors in this class of shares, we have collected 
statistics of the result of last year’s working from 
the balance-sheets of those companies which are open 
to the public, and which have already published 
their accounts for 1896. 
There are several points of great interest in the 
history of the tea-growing industry of India and 
Ceylon, whether we regard it from a financial or from 
a political or social point of view. These latter have their 
bearing on the aspect of the subject with whichwe are 
more particularly concerned — that of the investors' — and 
therefore, they may with advantage be briefly reviewed. 
In the first place that the industry is situated 
within the British Empire is an advantage upon 
which it is not necessary to dilate. The remark- 
able fact is that this tea industry of India and 
Ceylon is a comparatively new one, at least in its 
present dimensions, China having been in the 
past the great tea-producing country. Now, how- 
ever, the teas of India and Ceylon have completely 
ousted China teas from our home markets. 
Another feature for consideration in judging of the 
merits of the tea companies as an investment is the 
marvellous development which has taken place in the 
consumption |of tea in the United Kingdom. The fol- 
lowing figures, for the alternate years from 1891-5, taken 
from the last Blue Book, will show this in the simplest 
way possible, and will also indicate to whatextent Indian 
teas have beaten China teas out of the British market. 
1891 1893 1895 
India .. 109,6.37,790 115,022,926 123,361,870 
Ceylon . . 61,900,075 72,630,8.52 83,447,792 
171,537,865 187,653,778 206,809,662 
China .. 57,023,986 49,911,926 34,329,421 
Total imports 240,779,331 249,546,451 255,360,128 
The above observations indicate fairly well the present 
general position of the Indian and Ceylon tea industry. 
There are other and very important circumstances 
affecting the future ; these will be considered later on. 
We now come to examine the companies individu- 
ally. The statistics given below, being tbe figures of 
the paid-up capital and the net profits for last year, 
nave been collected by us from the accounts of ninety- 
four companies — all those which have, so far, been 
published, and of which we could procure a copy. 
In the majority of cases they cover the twelve 
months, January-December, 1896, but in many in- 
stances the accounts are made up to the end of the 
half-year, or to one of the quarters. In collating 
these statistics our chief difficulty has been to 
make the term “ net profits” mean exactly the same 
thing in all cases. The different methods adopted in 
making up the accounts explains this difficulty. For 
instance, some companies deduct income-tax in order to 
arrive at the net profits; others do not. lu the figures 
given below as net profits, income-tax has not been 
deducted, and where possible we have restored the 
amount in those cases where it had been charged 
as if it were an item of management expenses. This 
restoration has not been possible in every case. 
There are also variations in respect of allowances 
for depreciation and extensions of gardens out of 
revenue. These it has been impossible for us to 
remedy. We give the figures as accurately as we can ; 
perfect uniformity is impossible. 
In order to allow of convenient comparison we have 
kept the Indian and Ceylon companies distinct, and 
we have further subdivided them into groups, ac- 
cording to the quality of the tea produced, as shown 
by the prices realised — viz , high class, medium, and 
low class. The average price of Indian tea last year 
was 8'75d. per lb., and of that of Ceylon growth 8’25d 
per lb. In the case of the former we have taken as 
the margin for high class tea those which realised 
over 10-50d. per lb.; as medium, those selling at 
between 8’75d. and lO'SOd.: and as low class those 
which fell below the average for the year of 
8'75d. Ceylon teas do not reach anything like the 
high-water mark of the best Indian companies, and 
we have therefore made the single distinction — those 
ruling over and those ruling under the average of 
8-25d. This classing is purely arbitrary. Onlv com- 
panies with paid-up capitals of £40,000 and over have 
been set out specifically : — 
INDIAN. 
Paid-up 
Company. share 
capital. 
High-class over 
10'50d per lb. £ 
Assam . . 187,160 
Darjeeling .. 135,420 
Darjeeling Consol 120,000 
Doom-Dooma . . 157,500 
Eastern Assam (a) 61,120 
Lebong . . 65,6.56 
Tingri . . 56,.500 
Assam Frontier,. 285,000 
Jokai . . 300,000 
NahorRani .. 40,419 
* Other Cos. (7) 
Under £40,000 
capital . . 178,400 
1,587,175 
Medium class 
8'75d — 10’.50d per 
lb. 
AttarceKhat .. 66,745 
Borelli . . 78,170 
Chubwa . . 66,000 
Jhanzie . . 83,500 
Majuli .. 95,970 
Mungledye .. .52,320 
Soot. Assam . . 79.590 
Dejoo . . 43,580 
Rajmai . . 41,000 
Hunwal . . 46,600 
Empire India 
and Ceylon . . 429,380 
Jorehaut .. 100,000 
Singlo . . 180,000 
t Other Cos. ( 6 ) 157,000 
1,519,855 
Low class under 
8-7.5d. 
Brahmapootra.. 114,500 
British Indian. . 77,.325 
CacharandDooars 153,000 
Dooars . . 225,000 
East Indian and 
Ceylon . . 170,000 
Indian Tea Cachar 94,060 
Lankapara . . 50,000 
Lungla . . 200,000 
Chargola . . 153,017 
Borokai . . 43,560 
Meenglass . . 43,000 
Allynugger . . 120,000 
i Other Cos. (9) 180,031 
1,623,493 
Price 
Net 
Per 
per lb. 
profit. 
cent. 
1896. 
1896. 
ordy. 
shares. 
d. 
£ 
12-45 
44,632 
20 
12T8 
9,862 
6 
10 75 
5,031 
2 1-12 
11-75 
31,332 
11-50 
3,188 
4 
12-30 
12,682 
4,059 
15 
13-42 
6 
10-77 
22,687 
6 
10-79 
30,590 
10 
10-50 
4,049 
10 
— 
16,331 
— 
184,443 
11-62 
9-25 
4,823 
8 
9-12 
4,513 
5 
9-93 
7,445 
10 
10-33 
9,521 
10 
10-31 
5,162 
5 
8-87 
660 

9-40 
6,761 
7 
8-99 
3,469 
8 
9-75 
3,700 
10 
9-77 
750 
2 i 
0-.56 
30,046 
10 
9-64 
19,213 
20 
9-13 
9,398 
5 
— 
7,988 
— 
113,819 
6-98 
27,593 
20 
7-19 
5,592 
5 
7 00 
10,426 
7 
8-26 
30,139 
12 ^ 
7-70 
12,657 
7 
7-47 
1,589 
3 
7-50 
5,238 
10 
7-59 
13,059 
6 
7-23 
15,!)57 
10 
7-69 
1,684 
4 
7-19 
2,887 
6 
6-94 
5,531 
3 

16,983 
— 
148,935 
9-17 
4 V, , . V; -fissam, capital been reduced by half. 
T) Beta, Kamroop, Moran, Behubor 
Brit, Darieehug, Suddia Road (7). ’ 
• ^ •'^ssam, Chardware, Choonsali, Bor- 
jan, Tiphook ( 6 ). 
Mazdehee, Sylhet, 
Dekhari, SephiujuriBheel, Southern India, Wynaad{9). 
