Whirlpool, which has accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 225 crore, hopes to wipe out the same by 2001-2 through a restructuring exercise.

The company has filed the letter of offer with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for approval. It is expected that the company will get all approvals by February. The rights issue, to raise up to Rs 100 crore, was cleared by the board of directors earlier this year.

Announcing this at the annual general body meeting, which was marred by some shareholders demanding gifts or cash compensation, Whirlpool chief financial officer John Pinto said the company had already received the parent company, Whirlpool Corporation's, contribution of Rs 56.26 crore towards the rights issue. Pinto added that Whirlpool Corporation stake of 82.33 per centin the Indian subsidiary will remain unchanged after the rights issue.

Despite the pandemonium, the shareholders approved the proposal to raise the borrowing power of the directors of the company to Rs 600 crore. At present, the directors are allowed to raise up to Rs 500 crore through debentures, term loan borrowings and other sources.

Earlier addressing the shareholders, Whirlpool of India chairman J R Desai said the company's revenues had dipped during the period under review due to the recessionary trends affecting the industry.

Besides, adverse seasonality due to differing periods also had its impact. It may be noted that the company had a 15-month accounting year in 1997-98 as was the case in the preceding accounting year.

According to him, the Whirlpool brand has shown an improvement. During the April-September period, it recorded a 55 per cent growth compared with the corresponding period last year.

Pandemonium at AGM

Whirlpool's annual general meeting (AGM) had to be postponed byfour hours on Monday as angry shareholders disrupted proceedings. The AGM was thrown into chaos as irate shareholders of the loss-making company demanded gifts and dividend payments. Loss-making Whirlpool has skipped dividend for a number of years.

The company was finally forced the company to call in its security personnel to control the situation. The AGM was for approving the accounts of the company for 1997-98, reappointment of Garric D' Silva, managing director of the company as director, and hiking the borrowing limit of the board from Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore.

The shareholders also alleged that the management had passed various resolutions without the consent of ordinary shareholders. Even offers from the company to put various resolutions to vote were rejected by the shareholders, who stormed the dais forcing postponement of the meeting to evening.

Later, a Whirlpool spokesman said the trouble was created by some "unruly elements" who were not genuine shareholders of the company. All theresolutions on the agenda were passed without any problem when the AGM was reconvened at 1600 hours, the spokesman said.