Fin24 reports that Tongaat Hulett says its board’s decision to put its SA operations into business rescue after a restructuring plan failed to garner support from lenders is not the end of the road for one of KwaZulu-Natal's biggest employers.
All efforts are being made to continue operations as normal as the crushing and milling season continues. The message of the firm to its employees is to continue as normal as the group looks to continue producing about another R1 billion worth of sugar. CEO Gavin Hudson said: "We are having a very good season. The green shoots are really there and we are seeing the hard work of the last three-and-a-half years now, specifically in SA, where our production is running very well. We are producing on plan, crushing cane on plan, producing sugar on plan." Tongaat employs about 2,500 people directly in SA, and has created another 23,000 indirect opportunities in SA. In 2021, it contributed about R11 billion to GDP, while it sources 43% of its sugarcane from independent farmers, over 15,000 of which are small-scale farmers and cooperatives. The firm's Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe sugar operations are not financially distressed. These three businesses are funded independently and "should be largely unaffected by the adverse circumstances affecting the company". Chris Logan of Opportune Investments commented on Thursday that Tongaat had come up with "a good plan," but added: "Pity it was one minute before midnight."
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Karl Gernetzky at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
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