Manpasand Beverages faces flurry of insolvency petitions as losses mount, sales sink
Manpasand Beverages is facing a flurry of insolvency petitions even as losses continue to mount for the Vadodara, Gujarat-based manufacture of fruit juices.
A number of vendors have filed insolvency petition against Manpasand Beverages as the company likely finding it difficult to pay them on time. The Vododara-based company posted a loss of Rs 48.42 crore in the first half of the current financial year. In the previous financial year (2019-20) the company had posted a loss of Rs 190 crore.
The company though has been lucky so far as the National Company Law Tribunal has not yet admitted any of the insolvency petitions against it. So far, the Ahmedabad NCLT has dismissed at least three insolvency applications under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
However, a number Section 9 applications are still being heard. This week will be crucial for Manpasnad Beverages as a number of those applications will come up for hearing on 22nd and 24th of February. For example, the application moved by Dowell Moulds is up for hearing on 22 February 2021. Those filed by Swati Switchgears (India), Jain Farm Fresh, Bansal Industries, Global Packaging products, etc will be taken up on 24 February. The application filed by Plenco Closure will be heard on 15 March and the one by Amrapali Foods will be heard on 31 March 2020.
The one filed by Huhtamaki PPL Ltd, a Finland-based packaging company, is also likely to be heard soon. There are chances that this vendor might have agreed for a settlement and withdraw the petition.
Earlier, the NCLT dismissed three applications filed under Section 9 of IBC mostly for technical reasons. The one filed by Kanti Beverages was dismissed as no one from the creditor’s side turned up in NCLT. The one filed by National Polyplast and another vendor were dismissed as in the absence of demand notice or proper documents proving the default.
Manpasand Beverages, which is owned by Dhirendra Singh with 44% stakes, is India’s first listed pure-play beverages company, and a leading fruit juice manufacturer. It sells its beverages under the brands Mango Sip, X-Cite, Aprilla, Siznal, etc.
The company has its fair share of troubles in the past three years with two statutory auditors resigning in two consecutive years – Deloitte Haskins and Sells resigned in May 2018 citing that the company was not sharing information and the following year in July auditor Mehra Goel & Co. Chartered Accountants resigned amid a GST evasion probe.
The company’s financial trouble began in 2018-19, when its revenue dropped 33% to Rs 636 crore from Rs 955 crore in 2017-18. It posted a loss (before exceptional item) of Rs 206 crore during the year from a profit of Rs 118 crore in the previous year.
In 2019-20, things got worse with revenue crashing by 94% to Rs 41 crore and posting a loss (before exception Item) of Rs 122 crore. The total loss in 2019-20 was Rs 190 crore.
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