(a) Movements in deferred taxation of the group comprise:

(b) Major components of deferred taxation of the group are set out below:

(a) Shares issued on exercise of share options

On 11 July 1997, all of the share options granted under the company's share option scheme were exercised to subscribe for 60,000,000 shares at a consideration of $0.32 each. Of the total consideration received, $4,680,000 was credited to share capital and the balance of $14,520,000 was credited to the share premium account.

(b) Shares repurchased

During the year, the company repurchased a total of 9,440,000 of its shares on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, all of which were then cancelled. The premium paid on repurchase was charged against share premium in accordance with the Companies Act 1981 of Bermuda (as amended). Details of the shares repurchased are as follows:

(a) The group

The group's share of post acquisition accumulated losses of associated companies at 31 March 1998 is $4,411,000 (1997: $180,000). The group's share of loss of associated companies for the year is $4,231,000 (1997: profit of $545,000).

(b) The company

The distributable reserves of the company as at 31 March 1998 amounted to $269,258,000 (1997: $282,408,000).

Under the Companies Act 1981 of Bermuda (as amended), the contributed surplus is available for distribution to shareholders.

At 31 March 1998, there were contingent liabilities in respect of the following:

At 31 March 1998, the group had commitments in respect of forward exchange contracts entered into in the normal course of business.

(a) Capital commitments of the group outstanding at 31 March 1998 not provided for in the accounts were as follows:

(b) At 31 March 1998, the group had commitments to make payments under operating leases in the next year as follows:

The principal subsidiaries of the company have defined contribution pension schemes for their qualifying employees. The assets of the schemes are held separately under provident funds managed by independent fund managers or insurance companies. Pursuant to the rules of the schemes, the employers are required to make contributions to the schemes calculated at 5% of employees' basic salaries on a monthly basis. One of these schemes also requires the employer's contributions to be increased to 10% after the employees' length of service exceeds five years. The employees are entitled to 100% of the employers' contributions and the accrued income after completion of 10 years' service, and at an increasing scale rate between 50% and 90% after completion of five to nine years' service.

The total retirement scheme cost charged to the profit and loss account for the year was $3,932,000 (1997: $4,694,000). Where there are employees who leave the schemes prior to vesting fully in the contributions, in accordance with the rules of the schemes, the forfeited employers' contributions shall be used to reduce the future contributions of the employers. At 31 March 1998, the total amount of forfeited contributions which are available to reduce the contributions payable in future years was $1,341,000 (1997: $507,000).

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