Eveready East Africa’s premises in Nakuru. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Shareholders of loss-making battery maker Eveready have voted to sell off the company’s land in Nakuru, in a move that marks yet another low for the erstwhile giant manufacturer.
The 18.5 acre piece of land is where the Eveready’s closed factory sits, including all its mothballed production equipment. The battery manufacturing plant shut its doors in 2014.
However, not all shareholders at Thursday’s annual general meeting were for the idea to dispose of the land. The minority thought it was better to pursue the earlier announced venture into real estate development instead.
“The piece of land together with other assets have been valued at Sh1.29 billion — 46 per cent of the company’s assets,” said managing director Jackson Mutua.
“These funds would help Eveready get off the debt web, build headquarters, provide working capital for our distribution business and pay shareholders dividends.”
The value of the land excluding assets was put at Sh837 million, translating into about Sh40 million per acre.
The troubled firm also changed its name from Eveready East Africa Company to Eveready East Africa Public Company Ltd in line with the new Companies Act 2015.
Disgruntled shareholders complained about the dividend drought that has persisted for about a decade now.
The company is indebted to the tune of Sh509 million, with another Sh104.1 million spent on finance costs due to its borrowing levels – as per the 2015 published accounts.
The loan includes a foreign-denominated currency component that contributed significantly to the loss recorded in the year even though the company’s operations were profitable, he said.
Eveready plans to acquire a one acre piece of land on Mombasa Road in Nairobi to build its new head offices and distribution centre.
Under its current strategic plan, the company has introduced five different products including Turbo car batteries, Piano writing instruments, Eveready branded bulbs, detergents and bleach brand Clorox.
“This will complement our retail model and eliminate our property leasing costs,” said Mr Mutua.
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