The fifth annual general meeting of shareholders in the Far Eastern Insurance Ca., Ld., was held in the Yangtsze Insurance Building, No. 26 The Bund, on Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Edward I, Ezra presided, and was supported by Messrs. H. E. Arnhold, E. T. Byrne, J. Harold Dollar and H. M. Tibbey (Directors), and Mr, ©. M. G. Burnie (Secretary), the total attendance present representing 17,420 shares, In his speech, the Chairman said:—Before proceeding with the business of the meeting, i will ask you to stand. I take this opportunity, om behalf of the shareholders, directors and staff of the Company, to give public expression to our deep sorrow for the death of our General Manager, William Sanford Jackson. Mr. Jackson was the leading spirit it: the creation of the Far Eastern Insurance Company. The rapid growth of the Company's business in the short period of its existence is mainly due to his energy and we shall greatly miss his guiding hand. A message of condolence on behalf of the shareholders, directors and staff is being sent to Mr. Jackson's nearest relatives in England and I feel sure that this action will meet with your unanimous approval.
With reference to the report and accounts, the balance at credit working account for 1919 and former years, viz; Tls. 132,415.04, should show a satisfactory margin of profit after liquidating claims still outstanding on that account. Your directors, however, consider that it would be premature to allocate any portion of this balance to a reserve fund The working account for the 12 months ending December 31, 1920, shows a large increase in gross premium income, viz: Ts. 993,363,48, as compared with Ts. 560,821 in the previous year. The net premium after deducting re-insurances amounts to Tls. 678,147.02, against Tls. 408,987.24 in 1919. Interest account shows a satisfactory increase, the revenue from this source for 1920 being Ts. 74,931.34, as compared with Ts. 57,229.34 in 1919. The balance at oredit of working account, viz: Tls. 477,123.93, is more than double the balance shown last year, wiz: Tls. 209,716.13 It must be borne in mind, however, that the 1919 working account was debited with the depreciation in the market value of local investments and loss in exchange amounting to no less than Tls. 148,774, whereas the 1920 account has been credited with Tls. 65,306.17 by reason of the appreciation in market value of our local securities and the falling exchange. It is impossible to forecast the result of the working account
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.