East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has got backing from the Trade Ministry to sell off idle land in its latest push to get out of a Sh 15 billion hole that has left it in negative working capital.
Trade PS Betty Maina on Tuesday told Parliament that a Cabinet memorandum is ready for submission to grant the company approval to sell off its assets.
The EAPCC estimates that it requires Sh 15 billion capital injection to pay employees’ dues, retire expensive Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) loans, repay a long outstanding Japanese International Cooperation Agency loan, refurbish its plant and settle suppliers’ dues.
A Cabinet memorandum to this effect has been prepared jointly by the Cabinet secretaries to the National Treasury and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, which is due for submission towards the end of November.
IEAPCC, which published its results on Friday past the capital markets regulator’s deadline, posted a Sh 7.79 billion net profit up from a loss of Sh 1.47 billion in the previous financial year.
A huge chunk of the Sh 10.8 billion the cement manufacturer owes outsiders is to KCB, which includes working capital and short-term loans.
[Article source: The Business Daily, by Lynet Igadwah]
