Swc Likely To Post Marginal Profit

Manu Chhabria controlled Shaw Wallace & Co (SWC) has undertaken a top level reshuffle with J Gopalan taking charge of the corporate finance earlier this month.

Meanwhile, expectations are afloat that the financial results will show a marginal profit for the year 1995-96, negating all speculations that the company will incur losses to the tune of Rs 9.88 crore.

The reshuffle comes at a time when Shaw Wallace is stabilising a major restructuring exercise. Prior to the new post, Gopalan was the senior vice-president of liquor finance. According to a memo issued by the company's managing director R K Jain, dated June 4, 1997, J Gopalan would take charge of corporate finance with immediate effect.

This was circulated among all executives of the company.

"All copies of newsletters, budgets, financial statements, approvals for payments etc. should be forwarded to Mr J Gopalan for necessary action," says the memo. Sources say that Gopalan will have independent charge of corporate finance and will report directly to the managing director. The future prospects of T S Venkatesan, who was in charge of corporate finance, secretarial and legal matters last year is unclear, say sources.

At the board meeting scheduled to be held today, expectations are afloat that the financial results will show a marginal profit for the year 1996-97, negating all speculations of the company incurring losses to the tune of Rs 9.88 crore for the year in question. While a profit for 1995-96 seems likely, the slim profit margins make a dividend declaration highly debatable.

The dividend issue will, however, be finally thrashed out at today's board meeting. For 1994-95, the firm had extended its financial year to 15 months to give effect to the merger of 14 subsidiary companies into the main companies. It had offered a 10 per cent dividend for that year.

The company's board had earlier met this month, to chalk out a strategy for financial restructure of the company to tackle the debt crisis it is facing.

It had decided to get out of the its non-core businesses to raise around Rs 150 crore which it immediately needs.

Out of this, around Rs 10 crore will be raised through sale of certain properties.