Gutta juice incurs loss due to provisions

  • 2000-08-03
RIGA (BNS) - The Gutta juice maker company explains the loss of 7.4 million lats ($12.15 million) it suffered in 1999 by financial restructuring of the company and creating of provisions.

Gutta marketing director Gatis Kamaruts told BNS the above measures were taken following the management change at the company.

He said the loss emerged as the company made assessment and restructuring of financial liabilities from which the most part have formed at Gutta's subsidiaries in the CIS states.

The loss also is related to creating provisions for doubtful accounts receivables in amount of 2.2million lats and direct losses suffered by subsidiaries or associated companies in amount of 2.6 million lats.

Kamaruts said the loss also was incurred by writing off financial liabilities in amount of 493,487 lats for Gutta's shareholder Norbiton Assets and in amount of 145,378 lats for Gutta's former board chairman and president Nikolay Lovtsov.

Lovtsov resigned from the post late last year at the request of the company's biggest creditors.

Kamaruts said the international auditor firm Deloitte & Touche has issued a positive statement about Gutta's 1999 results.

He said Gutta has concluded an agreement with its biggest creditors about restructuring of its long-term debts. Gutta's turnover in the Baltic states in 1999 was 6,717,897 lats, up 16 percent from 1998 when the turnover was 5.80 million lats.

In Russia, meanwhile, the company's turnover declined by 83 percent from 8.06 million lats in 1998 to 1.36 million lats in 1999. The turnover in Ukraine fell by 92 percent from 905,571 lats in 1998 to 70,089 lats in 1999.

The company's turnover in other markets in 1999 was 240,469 lats, down 91 percent from 1998 when the turnover was 2.57million lats.