eBusiness Weekly
Oliver Kazunga
ZIMBABWE’S oldest coal mine, Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) presently under reconstruction, will next month meet with its creditors to discuss a number of issues including the firm’s going concern status.
Last year, the Government placed HCCL under reconstruction for the second time in about two years after the High Court blocked the initial attempt in 2020 citing that the decision would have created a “potentially unwholesome situation for Hwange”.
The company was placed under administration in October 2018 when it almost collapsed as creditors were swooping on it through a string of litigations as workers had also gone for several months without salaries.
The desire to have HCCL in which the Government owns about 42 percent stake under reconstruction is based on optimism that the company can be revived.
According to a public notice released this week signed by HCCL company secretary Chrispen Ncube, the firm said the Notice is hereby given that an initial meeting of the creditors of Hwange Colliery Company Limited will be held physically and virtually on Friday 12 May 2023, at 1000hrs for the purpose of transacting the following business.
“To consider a report of the administrator incorporating a statement showing the particulars of the company’s assets debts and liabilities, the creditors and securities held by them … a statement of the reasons why it appeared to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs that the company should be placed under reconstruction in order to afford it an opportunity to become a successful concern.”
Discussions will also be centred on the considered opinion of the administrator as to the prospects of HCCL becoming a successful operation as well as the removal of the facts or circumstances which prevent the company from becoming a successful concern.
Meanwhile, HCCL has advised of the delay to publish financial results for the full-year ended December 31, 2022.
The delay has been necessitated by the need to ensure the conclusion of the year-end audit process.
HCCL used to owe local and international creditors about US$193 million and this has been reduced to about US$40 million after the clearance of all domestic debts.
Last September, during a tour of the company by members of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), HCCL management revealed that the firm has made significant progress in its production levels — from less than one million tonnes per year before the implementation of the reconstruction programme in 2018, to over 4 million tonnes annually.
In 2021, the colliery proclaimed that it was advancing the production of high volume and margin coking coal as part of a strategic thrust to improve its potential.
