Sbi Appoints Two Auditors To Look Into Itc Fin Lease Assets

ITC Classic chairman Feroze R Vevaina said: I am informed that our lead bank State Bank of India, in terms of the consortium agreement, has sought to appoint two chartered accountant firms for the purpose of inspecting the assets financed by them and verification of other statements and particulars furnished in the routine course of business. The two firms, L B Jha & Company and S N Mukherjee & Company, will look into the company's lease finance deals which have been funded by the bank.

SBI confirmed the appointments and said this was due to the significant size of the exposure with the ITC group financial services flagship.

 

Vevaina further said, These inspections were initially conducted by them directly, but in view of the large number of assets they have decided to outsource this function. ITC Classic, which has been one of the major names in the lease finance industry, recorded higher leasing income during the last financial year.

Turnover in this business went up from Rs 6.55 crore in 1994-95 to Rs 10.28 crore in 1995-96. Leasing was the highest category of income in 1995-96 (as before), topping Rs 8.74 crore from sale of stock-in-trade and Rs 5.36 crore on dividend income. The company stayed away from sale-and-lease-back deals, which was perceived by the finance ministry as an unfair route to avoid tax and banned.