The annual meeting of the Chempedak Rubber & Gambier Estate Ltd, was held on January. 15. Mr. C. F. Shackleton, the chairman, presided, being supported by Sir Elly Kadoorie and Mr. W. B. Middleton, directors, and Mr. A. J. Welch representing the secretaries.
The notice calling the meeting having been read, the Chairman Addressed the shareholders The directors' report and st ment of accounts, having been in your hands for' the prescribed period, I will, with your permission, follow the usual procedure and take them as read.
The result of the working of the company for the 12 months under! review was a loss of Tls. 12,617.63, against a profit of Tls. 12,556.35 for the previous year, a falling off of over Tis, 25,000, although the crop showed an increase of 14,200 Ibs, notwithstanding a complete stoppage of tapping during May, 1990. 'This satisfactory increas output was, however, of no ava against the' continuous drop in the price ruling for raw rubber, the average price realized being 6.124. per Ib as against 9.47d. last year, Tt may be of interest to note that, if the latter price had been realized, the anecounts would have shown-a profit of approximately Tls. 34,000.
The labour position, although never easy on the estate, showed a considerable improvement at the end of the year, whilst, without increasing the consumption of bark, the yield per acre tapped has improved considerably, being 329 lbs. {for 11 months' tapping as against 314 ths. for 12 months? tapping last veal Since the end of the financial year there has been a further fall in the price of rubber, but I am pleased to be able to tell' you, that this has been met to a great extent by carrying out somewhat drastic economies fon the estate. These economies ean-not certainly be continued indefinite. ly, but will, T think, enable the Company to'weather the _present serious crisis, without any permanent damage being done to the estate.
As the close of the year the surplus of liquid assets was. Tls. 11,766.10, but, unless there is a further serious fall in rubber prices, it is hoped that the anticipated crop for the current year, 300,000 Tbs, can be harvested and sold without seriously encroaching on present resources. I may mention that] your directors are not drawing fees fand your general managers are! voluntarily drawing a reduced salary until matters improve.
As regards the future of the industry, this fs bound up in the gen-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.