Columbia Wants to Add 4th Business, Holders Told

NEW YORK —  Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. said Tuesday that it was seeking to expand into a fourth business in addition to its current interests in motion pictures, television and movie theaters.

“We’re looking to expand,” Chief Executive Victor A. Kaufman told the annual meeting of shareholders. But he declined to say what new area the company might enter or when it might make a move.

He pointed to the company’s $1.5-billion credit line and later said the money could be used for acquisitions. He said the company had no specific timetable for a deal, and he would not say what fields the company, 49% owned by Coca-Cola Co., was seeking to enter.

In the company’s stub period, a two-month reporting period from December, 1987, to February, 1988, that arose from a change in its fiscal year, the company had a loss of $104.6 million due to motion picture writedowns. At the time, the company said it would focus on building its balance sheet for the next three years and increasing its cash flow--as opposed to achieving short-term earnings gains.

Kaufman reiterated that strategy at Tuesday’s annual meeting and said the company would build upon and expand its current asset base.

The company said in its annual report that it planned to expand into a new line of business and said it had $2.5 billion of available credit--which includes the $1.5 billion mentioned by Kaufman at the meeting.