Calcutta, April 24: There appears to be a difference of opinion among ITC board members on the actual profits to be shown for the year ended March 31, 1998. Board-level sources indicated that there are divergent views on the extent of provisioning required mainly on account of the merger of ITC Classic Finance with ICICI Ltd.The actual net profit that will be shown on finalisation of results next month will depend on the provisioning made on account of losses made in the deal with ICICI and diminution in the value of intra-group assets acquired from ITC Classic including holdings in real estate companies.
Provisioning may also be required on account of portfolio investments of group investment subsidiaries the fate of which is still to be decided.
The company chairman has on previous occasions made it clear that he wants to focus on the core businesses of tobacco, hotels, speciality paper and packaging and that all other subsidiaries would either be hived off or wound up over a period of time. AtFriday's board meeting, the company's business plans, its five-year corporate plan envisaging a substantial investment of over Rs 1800 crore in phases and the issue of brands promotion were discussed.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
