"You have already had an opportunity of perusing the printed accounts and I therefore propose, with your permission, to take them as read. The profit on the year's working, amounting to $197,588.65, is the highest recorded in the history of the Company, and must be considered satisfactory even after due allowance has been made for the depreciation in the value of the Chinese Dollar.
In considering the allocation of the amount available for disposal you will note that your Directors have based their recommendations on a conservative policy, a policy which they consider imperative under existing conditions when the outlook for the immediate future is so obscure. The remarks I made in this connection at our Meeting last year are equally applicable to conditions as they exist today, and recently the position has been further aggravated by the severe restrictions on, or complete closure of, many of our export markets. Furthermore the harmful effect on our business which must be expected due to the partial evacuation of Hongkong has already been confirmed by the latest returns from our Branch in that city.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.