Poultry and animal feeds producer Vitarich Corp. exited a nine-year corporate rehabilitation, six years ahead of the original plan.
Vitarich, a company controlled by the Sarmiento family, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange a Bulacan regional trial court granted its petition to exit rehabilitation. The company was ordered to pay the remaining unsecured creditors within a year from receipt of the court order.
With the court approval, Vitarich will exit rehabilitation six years ahead of the 15-year rehabilitation plan.
The Bulacan court approved in May 2007 a 15-year rehabilitation of Vitarich, a 65-year old company established by Sarmiento brothers Feliciano, Lorenzo and Pablo.
Vitarch board in 2014 directed executive vice president and chief operating officer Ricardo Sarmiento to ask the Bulacan regional trial court to allow the company to exit rehabilitation after the company substantially reduced its debt and increased its authorized capital stock to P3.5 billion from P500 million.
Vitarich earlier said the company had disposed several non-core assets to raise operating capital and pay off remaining debt.
It also converted most of its debt into equity, amounting to P2.37 billion which helped in reducing company’s debt to P800 million from a high of P3.2 billion.
Vitarich said with 86 percent of debt already settled, it was now ready to be competitive again without the protective mantle of a stay order.
The poultry producer filed for corporate rehabilitation in 2007 after it experienced difficulties in paying off bank loans and other liabilities which ballooned to P3.26 billion, from an outstanding loan of P2.6 billion.
Vitarich said at the time it suffered liquidity problems because of a glut in the supply of poultry in the market, stiff competition and the removal of quantitative restriction on poultry imports.
