18. This decision was stated to have been taken, inter alia, on review of
the proposed balance sheet showing the position on 30 September 1967;
that balance sheet showed the book value of the assets of ELSI as
17,956.3 million lire, its total debt as 13,123.9 million lire; the accumulated
losses of 2,68 1.3 million lire had reduced the value of the equity (capital
stock and capital subscription account) from 4,000 million lire to
1,318.7 million lire. The total debt included a number of liabilities to one
United States bank and several Italian banks, some (but not all) of which
were guaranteed by Raytheon. For the purposes of a possible liquidation,
an asset analysis was prepared by the Chief Financial Officer of Raytheon
showing the expected position on 31 March 1968. This showed the book
value of ELSI's assets as 18,640 million lire; as explained in his affidavit
filed in these proceedings, it also showed "the minimum prospects of recovery of values which we could be sure of, in order to ensure an orderly
liquidation process", and the total realizable value of the assets on this
basis (the "quick-sale value") was calculated to be 10,838.8 million lire. A
balance sheet subsequently prepared to show the position at 31 March
1968, extrapolated from the balance sheet at 30 September 1967, showed
the book value of total assets as 17,053.5 million lire and total debt of
12,970.6 million lire.
19. During the hearings, at the request of the Agent of Italy, the Chamber asked the Government of the United States to produce the financial
report showing ELSI's financial position at 30 September 1967, from
which the figures for the book value of its assets had been derived. The
report, prepared by Raytheon's Italian auditors, and dated 22 March
1968, was produced in evidence. The balance sheet attached thereto
showed two sets of figures; the first of these, corresponding to the figures
for assets and liabilities set out in paragraph 18 above, gave the figures as
recorded in the company's books of account. The second set of figures
was based on the first set, but a number of adjustments had been made
in accordance with the financial accounting policy of Raytheon "In
order to assure comparability of the financial information reported from
abroad" by its subsidiary companies. According to the Co-Agent of
the United States, the major difference between the accounts on the
Italian basis and the Raytheon basis was
"the item of Deferred Charges, which for the most part represented
the cost of developing new lines and improving product quality. This
asset is carried on the Italian books but is routinely written off by
Raytheon Company."
The adjustment of the item for "Deferred Charges" reduced the total
assets figure by 1,653 million lire. Taking al1 adjustments into account,