Supplier slaps Uchumi with winding up suit

Workers and security guards outside Uchumi Supermarkets’ Sugarland outlet on Oloo Street in Eldoret town on March 21, 2016. The outlet is among those that were closed by the retailer on Monday. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA  

By DAVID HERBLING

In Summary

• Ceccagnoli Italiano Ltd has issued a public notice saying the firm wants to sell off the assets of Uchumi to recover unpaid dues.
• The firm is also inviting other Uchumi creditors owed to publicly join the petition and lodge their claims at the High Court ahead of hearing in a month’s time.

A supplier has moved to court seeking to wind up Uchumi Supermarkets over an undisclosed outstanding debt, adding to the woes of Kenya’s oldest retail chain.

Ceccagnoli Italiano Ltd has issued a public notice saying the firm wants to sell off the assets of Uchumi to recover unpaid dues, barely two months after the retailer filed for bankruptcy in Uganda after failing to service debts.

The firm, which imports and supplies food products to retailers in Kenya, is also inviting other Uchumi creditors owed to publicly join the petition and lodge their claims at the High Court ahead of hearing in a month’s time.

“Notice is hereby given that a petition for the winding-up of the above-named company (Uchumi) by the High Court of Kenya, was presented to the said court on 18th February 2016 by Ceccagnoli Italiano Ltd,” the supplier said in a notice.

“Any creditor or contributory of the said company (Uchumi) desirous to support or oppose the making of an order on the said petition may appear at the time of hearing in person or by his advocate for that purpose.”

Uchumi’s total liabilities have surpassed its assets by nearly Sh200 million, putting the firm in a negative equity position.

READ: Uchumi sacks 253 workers as it closes outlets

The retailer’s debt load of Sh6.3 billion against a total asset base of Sh6.1 billion has crystallised into a negative equity of Sh181.8 million, or Sh0.49 per share as per half-year financial statements to December.

The case to wind up Uchumi will be heard on April 22, 2016 at the Milimani commercial courts in Nairobi.

Uchumi has historically been grappling with suppliers due to mounting debts, which led to the listed retailer being declared insolvent on May 30, 2006 and subsequently suspended from trading at the Nairobi bourse.

The supermarket chain at the time owed Sh266.7 million to suppliers and loans amounting to Sh956 million belonging to KCB and PTA.

Trading of Uchumi’s shares resumed on May 31, 2011 and since then, the retailer has been relying on bank loans to pay suppliers, with the latest such borrowing happening in December where the chain received Sh500 million from KCB.

The move to compulsorily wind up Uchumi comes barely a day after the retailer closed five outlets in Kenya and fired 253 employees.

Industrial Court judge Linnet Ndolo, however, on Tuesday stopped Uchumi from declaring the 253 staff redundant pending hearing and determination of the case.