Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

228 HISTORY OF THE BANKIt may be interesting at this point to review the growthof The Canadian Bank of Commerce during the period ofrapid expansion that reached a climax in the figures of thestatement submitted to the shareholders at the close ofNovember, 1906. This statement isreproduced on page 229.At the end of 1902 the total assets of the bank stood at$72,800,000; in 1903, they had increased to $83,000,000; in1904, they were $91,000,000; in 1905, $98,000,000; and in1906, $113,000,000 well above the hundred million mark.An increase of fifteen million dollars in assets during a singleyear would have astounded the able financiers of the Confederationera who founded The Canadian Bank of Commerce.During the five years the bank had increased its assets bysixty per cent, and had shown excellent net profits. In 1902the profits were $1,028,509, a high record; in 1903, $1,004,217;in 1904, $1,124,973; in 1905, $1,376,167; and in 1906, $1,741,126.As the annual dividend of seven per cent, remained unchangedup to the close of 1905, the growth of the Rest was rapid.In addition to surplus profits, this account received the surplusof $562,776 derived from the purchase of the Bank of BritishColumbia, of $293,028 from the Halifax Banking Company,and the premium of forty per cent, on the issue of $1,300,000of new stock in 1905. The additions to the Rest, from 1901to 1906 inclusive, amounted in all to $3,750,000, increasingthat fund from twenty-one per cent, of the paid-up capitalin 1900 to fifty per cent, in 1906. As a considerable numberof new branch buildings had been erected each year, someof a very expensive character, it was considered advisableto increase the sums written off Bank Premises Account.The appropriation for this purpose in 1902 was $51,736; in1903, $85,007; in 1904, $127,806; in 1905, $219,234; and in1906, $341,435. The bank's annual contribution to thePension Fund, which had been $15,000 in 1902, was increased in1904 to $25,000 and in 1906 to $30,000. The bonuses paidto the staff during the period were fixed in proportion to netprofits. Thus at the end of 1902, a year of handsome returns,