Portland Cement rescinds decision to sack all staff
East African Portland Cement factory entrance. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The firm had sought to declare 800 employees redundant, with the aim of trimming its bloated wage bill.
- In 2018, EAPCC sold 900 acres of its prime land to KRC at Sh5 billion for an inland depot currently under construction.
The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has withdrawn a restructuring and staff rationalisation notice which it had earlier issued.
The firm had sought to declare 800 employees redundant, with the aim of trimming its bloated wage bill.
On Friday, however, the firm announced that it had shelved the plans and will be issuing a new circular in the days to come.
RESTRUCTURING
“A fresh, replacement notice, on the intended company restructuring and staff rationalisation, shall be circulated, in due course,” reads a statement by Acting EAPCC managing director Stephen Nthei.
EAPCC is stuck in negative working capital with obligations maturing within the next 12 months outstripping current assets by Sh7.3 billion. This potentially makes it difficult to service its short-term obligations.
However, Mr Nthei said in a phone interview EAPCC was counting on cash inflows from the sale of land to Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC). He said about Sh3 billion was still outstanding.
PRIME LAND
“We have received commitment of the payment of this money and we want to be matching it with phased implementation of this programme,” said Mr Nthei.
In 2018, EAPCC sold 900 acres of its prime land to KRC at Sh5 billion for an inland depot currently under construction. It has already received a downpayment of Sh1.2 billion.
