The other point I wanted to make was with regard to what a business is about. The idea of business existing purely to make a profit is a bit Victorian in practice to me. There exists in practice a number of groups that influence the company and what it is about. Pure short term profit can be sacrificed for longer/medium term benefit to all these groups. One of these groups (e.g. a bank with a mortgage deed) can be more important than pure profit over a few years. This is stakeholder theory see
Stakeholder Theory I see. You believe these losses for such a long period may suggest that profits were not a priority in the short or medium term to some company stakeholder. I think you have a good point. The ongoing losses and huge capital depletion could easily be explained by the existence of a stakeholder(s) with a priority other than the company's financial well-being and security.
I note that the Freeman Stakeholder theory also lists employees, suppliers and customers as stakeholders. Interesting.
Lorne
