$1m lifeline for Durawood products

ONE of the country’s oldest wooden flooring and furniture companies, Birdlands Trading Private Limited, formerly, Durawood Products, has survived liquidation and is now under judicial management, after one of its shareholders sold property worth $1 million to settle a fraction of the firm’s debts.

The company had gone under liquidation in 2015 after accruing arrears of over $1 million to different creditors. The company owed $700 000 to Stanbic Bank and $300 000 to Renaissance Bank and an undisclosed amount to workers in unpaid salary arrears.

Durawoods judicial manager Khumbulani Mathema told Business Chronicle that the lifeline provided to the company will see an increase in capacity utilisation from 10 percent to 50 percent.

“The shareholders approached one of their shareholders’ family trust, which owned property next door and that property was then sold to Stanbic Bank to the tune of $1 million and the money was then used to pay off the Stanbic debt, which was the main debt,” he said.

“What it meant was almost 70 percent of the creditors were cleared, now the company owes few creditors and we have gotten into partnership with the concession holders in Tsholotsho and we will be getting some timber and harvesting has started in Tsholotsho. Production has also started and the money has also allowed the company to come out of liquidation into judicial management and it would mean that the workers will also be engaged going forward.

“The workers will also start to get some payment.”

Mr Mathema said the company has signed deals with equipment suppliers for capacitation and retooling in order for production to start at full throttle.