The Cold Storage Company made a surplus of over US$5 000 under corporate rescue

The Cold Storage Company made a surplus of US$5 445 during the period that it was under corporate rescue but this was only 30% of its potential, according to a report that was filed by the corporate rescuer Vonani Majoko in August.

The report was for the period from 1 April 2021 to 7 July 2022 when Majoko was removed.

The weekly newspaper, the Independent, last week reported that Majoko was being investigated by the police for refusing to “hand over crucial documents under his care, including books of accounts and keys, since his ouster in July this year”.

The Insider has now obtained a document showing that Majoko filed an accounts report for the period he was engaged.

The report, however, says the financial report was incomplete because it did not include the activities and operations of CSC under the management of Boustead Beef “who refused to cede the control of CSC to the CRP as required by the High Court Order that placed CSC under corporate rescue”. 

The report said that during the period under review, Boustead Beef controlled about 70% of the revenue generated by CSC. 

“While the period under review is from 1st April 2021 to 7th July 2022, the CRP was only able to take control of some of the CSC properties at the end of October 2021 wherein a bank account for CSC was promptly opened on 1st November 2021. This financial report is for the period from that date to 31st July 2022.”

It says: “Lack of cooperation from Boustead Beef and the subsequent legal battles that spilled into the courts had the effect of confusing tenants who either withheld rentals, defaulted or terminated their lease agreements. 

“This depressed revenues to as low as US$3 800 per month from a potential US$80 000,” it says.

The report says that the company earned US$140 071 and spent US$134 626 during the period leaving a surplus of US$5 445.

It says a chicken project took off in April 2022 following the placement of 2 000 broilers and a total of US$1 743 was earned from the sale of the broilers while US$5 400 was outstanding and being collected from a bulk buyer.

Service slaughters also started at Chinhoyi in July and earned US$570 in slaughter fees.

Majoko said it was probably these service slaughters at Chinhoyi that prompted Boustead Beef to invite Vice-President Consantino Chiwenga prematurely to officially open the Bulawayo Branch when it was not ready.

According to the report the bulk of the US$134 626 was paid to employees, mostly former CSC workers who were retrenched by Boustead Beef. 

Boustead Beef entered into an agreement to revive the CSC in January 2019 but has failed to do so.

The government placed the CSC under corporate rescue in December 2020 but Boustead Beef refused to allow the rescuer to operate until he was removed.

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