Vitarich raising capital to P1.5B

MANILA, Philippines - Listed animal feed and livestock company Vitarich Corp. is raising its capitalization by three-fold to P1.5 billion from P500 million to facilitate the entry of new investors.

“The increase, if approved by the stockholders, will allow flexibility in case the corporation finds ‘white knight’ investors,” Vitarich said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The capital hike will be presented to stockholders for their approval during the firm’s annual meeting on June 29.

Vitarich, which used to lead the poultry industry, has been under corporate rehabilitation since 2006 due to tight liquidity problems resulting from the Asian currency crisis and the avian flu outbreak in 2003.

Vitarich has been unloading non-core assets to service debt payments. Last year, it sold several properties worth as much as P202.34 million to pay down debt.

At the height of the financial crisis, Vitarich’s debt stood at P3.23 billion. Incorporated in 1962 by the Sarmiento family, Vitarich is engaged in the production and distribution of various poultry products such as live and dressed chicken, day-old chicks and animal and aqua feeds, among others.