The High Court of Namibia on Monday granted provisional orders for the winding-up of Lalandii and Northern Fishing, the two subsidiaries of one of the oldest fishing companies in the country.

"We do not have one cent left to continue," Johan Bleekers, MD of Namfish, told The Namibian yesterday.

"Our cash drawers are completely empty."

IN DEEP WATER News of Namfish's collapse follows an announcement by Blue Ocean Products at Walvis Bay just before Christmas that its hake factory, employing 200 people, was closing.

Earlier in December, Cadilu retrenched 104 factory workers, while about 100 sea-going workers are still fighting their retrenchment in court.

Bleekers said Namfish would be under provisional liquidation from Monday.

"Technically this means everybody's service contracts will be suspended according to the law.

The company will be 100 per cent in the hands of the liquidators, McLaren and Bruni from Windhoek."

He said shareholders and employees would have no further say in the company and it was up to the liquidators to decide how long to keep it going.

Bleekers said the liquidators would have to take a decision that was in the best interest of the creditors.

"From Monday we are all working for the liquidators.

They will be responsible for salaries," he said.

The two Namfish companies only caught hake and exported most of their products to Europe.

Lalandii, based at Luederitz, has two vessels and a processing factory employing 447 people.

Northern Fishing at Walvis Bay operates a freezer trawler and employs 78 people.

The potential loss of more than 400 jobs at Luederitz could have a major impact on the economy of the harbour town, which is largely dependent on the fishing industry.

The lobster industry, which is one of the town's economic pillars, is also in a survival crisis.

It is reported that some of the concessionaires have not yet sent their boats out this season.

Bleekers said he did not know what the law said with regard to retrenchment packages for a company under liquidation, and whether employees would have to share the estate with the rest of the creditors.

Results for the financial year ended April 30 2004 showed an unaudited net loss of N$54,2 million and an operating loss of N$31 million.

In 2003, the group's operating loss was N$14 million and the audited net loss was N$31,5 million.

'DEATH IN THE FAMILY' Bleekers said the High Court decision had been communicated to employees on Monday afternoon, and would be followed with letters to everybody.

"It has not been easy telling them," he said.

"It is very, very sad.

It feels like there has been a death in the family."

Kiros Sacarias, acting General Secretary of the Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau), told The Namibian yesterday that the union had not yet received any official announcement from the company.

"We are sending a letter to them today, requesting details of the situation."

He said workers had only informed him of the meeting held on Monday when they were told of the liquidation.

The MD said he hoped that for the sake of employees the company would be sold as a going concern.

He did not have much hope, though, saying the whole industry was experiencing negative cash flow.

"And this has been going on for the past three years.

It is impossible to keep going when operation costs are more than your income."

Reasons given by the company in the court documents stated: "Continued adverse market conditions and poor catches have resulted in sustained operating losses and pressure on cash flow of both Lalandii and Northern Fishing.

Continued operations will result in further losses being incurred."

Bleekers named a dramatic drop in market prices as one of the major contributors to the adverse situation.

He said, for example, that the price of four to six ounce fillets "skin on" went down from N$22 a kilogramme to N$9 a kilogramme in one year's time.

EVERYBODY HURTS The average price for products from the freezer trawler was N$19,60 per kilogramme two years ago.

It has dropped to N$11,52 a kilogramme.

"These lower prices have hurt everybody."

He said one of the reasons for the fall in price was that South American countries had flooded the market with many products.

In addition, he felt the effect of aquaculture was beginning to be felt.

"Australia is buying aquaculture products directly from Vietnam.

All these negative factors, including high operating costs in Namibia, have contributed directly to depressed conditions over the past three years."

The company's management planned to be in Luederitz today for follow-up meetings with employees.

The court has set April 4 as the return date for a final liquidation order.

Trading in Namfish securities on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) was voluntarily suspended at the beginning of this month.

Major shareholders in Namfish include Sea Harvest Corporation, the Frans Indongo Trust, Standard Bank Namibia Nominees, the Arthur Mays Trust, Labour Investment Holding and the Ivo de Gouveia Family Trust.

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