Uchumi Supermarkets (Uganda) Limited
Tel : 0312300400 | Fax: 0414252077
 | Location: Garden City Branch, Yusuf Lule Rd, Kampala, Uganda Address: P.O.Box 33230, Kampala, Uganda  Uchumi goods put on auction Goods belonging to Uchumi Supermarkets Uganda Limited have been auctioned by the official receiver, the Registrar General Uganda Registration Services Bureau in order to recover money owed to creditors.In accordance with a court order, the auction of perishable items started in the Ntinda Industrial Area.The auctioned items included sanitary towels/diapers, spaghetti/macaroni, other foodstuffs in packets/tins, coffee and tea, soft drinks and other related items, wines/spirits, shoe polish as well as health medications comprising of food supplements/health living products and soaps.Other items were toiletries, cosmetic products and related perishable household items. Read more ▪ Uchumi suppliers negotiate to convert debt into ownership Uchumi Supermarket has opened talks with its suppliers that could see the creditors convert the debts owed to them by the retailer into shares.The creditors Tuesday agreed to oppose an ongoing insolvency case against Uchumi filed by five suppliers. The retailer hopes the conversion will ease the debt load on its books.“We have agreed to have the debt restructured as we are opposed to winding up. We have given a mandate to our lawyers to append our names in opposing the (winding up) petition because everyone will be a loser. We can bring it (Uchumi) back like we did previously,” said the Association of Kenya Suppliers chairman Kimani Rugendo. Read more ▪ Uchumi supermarket case of bankruptcy in new twist The hearing of Uchumi’s bankruptcy petition filed at High Court flopped following a request by Bidco company to be given time to reply to the petition. Bidco, which is one of the companies demanding millions of Uganda Shillings from Uchumi, was given by the presiding Judge Lydia Mugambe to file their reply. Uchumi owes more than a dozen creditors including Crown Bottlers, Century Bottling Co. Ltd, Nateete Shopping Centre, Samona Products, Dembe Trading, hundreds of employees that were rendered jobless and a number of landlords seeking their dues.Kenya-based supermarket Uchumi closed operations in its Uganda and Tanzania. Read more ▪ Creditors drag Uchumi to High Court over bankruptcy claims The creditors of Uchumi Supermarket have decided to lodge an application in the High Court challenging a request by the directors of the stricken retail chain to declare them bankrupt after failing to clear their debts. Five branches of Uchumi were shut down and staff was laid off after accruing a lot of debts from suppliers.The executive director of Private Sector Foundation Gideon Badagawa said they have agreed with Uchumi’s creditors to ask for an objection to the application. Badagawa said they are taking action because they have all the evidence that Uchumi has the capacity to clear their debts.“We have all the evidence that every operation that has been done in Uganda is actually based in Kenya. All these cheques are being signed by people based in Kenya” Badagawa. Someone owns Uchumi here in Uganda but based in Kenya and we want to lift the veil so the search is on to know who the owner is” he added - Read more ▪ Uchumi files for bankruptcy The increasing number of lawsuits against Uchumi Supermarkets (Uganda) Ltd has prompted the beleaguered company to petition the High Court to wind up its operations to safeguard its remaining assets from creditors.If successful, the liquidation petition filed on at the High Court would see the company’s assets placed in the custody of the Attorney General as the official receiver.Several creditors have execution orders while other cases are pending before different courts. The unsettled dues include money owed to suppliers, landlords and employees who will be rendered jobless.The board of directors of Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd, the majority shareholder in Uchumi Supermarkets (Uganda), blames low sales, stocks and fraud for the challenges that have rendered the Uganda operation commercially unviable. Read more ▪ Chief executive officer Julius Kipng’etich: Former Uchumi top managers accused of Shs33b cover-up The revelation that Uchumi Supermarkets manipulated financial statements to the tune of Sh1.04 billion (Shs33b) has put former senior managers including, ex-chief executive Jonathan Ciano, on the spot.The listed supermarket chain announced that the former management had cooked up books to prop up earnings, giving a false picture of Uchumi’s financial position.Uchumi said a clear picture of the extent of accounting fraud orchestrated by the former executives would be revealed once a forensic audit by KPMG is complete.“The former management cleverly played around with books. The true and fair position of Uchumi was never reflected,” said chief executive officer Julius Kipng’etich, who was hired to turn around the fortunes of the struggling retailer. Read more ▪ Former employees sue Uchumi for Uganda exit Former employees of Uchumi Supermarket have sued the retail chain for not informing them prior to closure of its Ugandan branches and exiting the country without remitting their salaries.The ex-Uchumi workers say, in a case filed at the High Court, that their employer tricked them into leave to allow renovation of the supermarket’s premises.They maintain that they only learnt of the closure from Kenyan media which widely reported Uchumi’s exit from Uganda. Uchumi shut down its five Uganda outlets as part of a turnaround plan that also saw it exit Tanzania where it had six branches.The supermarket chain says its Uganda and Tanzania branches have been making losses despite it injecting Sh2.4 billion.Read more ▪ DM: Uchumi sends 180 workers home, closes two branches Uchumi Supermarket has sent 180 workers on forced leave after closing two branches in Kabalagala and Nateete. In an interview, Mr Gichamba Chege, the acting Uchumi general manager, told Daily Monitor that they had sent workers at the two branches on forced leave pending communication from their head office in Nairobi, Kenya. “…we have asked workers to go on leave as we wait for communication from our head office in Nairobi,” Mr Chege said, before confirming they had permanently closed the two outlets. The two branches were closed respectively. The Kabalagala branch was closed after Umeme cut off power supply to the outlet over a Shs70m electricity bill.Workers who spoke to Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity, said they had been asked to go on indefinite leave but complained of non-payment of their salaries. Read more ▪ Loans force Uchumi into losses Supermarket chain, Uchumi posted a loss caused by expensive bank loans from KCB and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.The loss posted shot up by a tenth, mainly driven by higher finance costs, salaries and rent.Uchumi borrowed Shs16.2 billion (Ksh600 million) from KCB and Shs10.93 billion (Ksh405 million) from Co-operative Bank - Kenya to pay suppliers before its December rights issue.The supermarket chain posted a loss of Shs7 billion (Ksh262.3 million) compared to a net profit of Shs2.88b (Ksh106.9m) recorded.The loss, analysts say resulted from the persistent volatility in the EAC economies worsened by a fall in real sales, which declined from Shs197 billion (Ksh7.3 billion) to Shs183.6 billion (Ksh6.8 billion). Read more ▪  Uchumi Supermarkets saw its subsidiaries in Uganda and Tanzania sink deeper into losses in the year, signalling difficulties in the firm’s quest to expand its share of the competitive regional retail market.The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed retailer says in its annual report that the Uganda unit recorded its third consecutive loss in the period while the Tanzanian operations continued its loss-making streak since Uchumi set up shop in Dar es Salaam.The losses by the subsidiaries weighed down Uchumi’s net profit which rose 7.6 per cent to Sh384 million compared to Sh357 million the year before. Uchumi chief executive Jonathan Ciano said: “Total group sales registered a marginal growth due to a drop in Uganda mainly attributed to competition, supply chain challenges and some locations becoming untenable due to infrastructural and tenancy mix challenges.” Read more ▪  Uchumi to cross-list on Dar stock exchange Following its successful cross-listing on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), where it has subsidiaries, and on the Rwanda bourse, Uchumi supermarkets is set to cross list on the Dar es Salaam stock exchange.Tanzania’s Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) has approved Uchumi Supermarkets to cross-list shares on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.CMSA is a government agency that regulates trading of securities. Uchumi chief executive Jonathan Ciano said in an interview the go-ahead was granted last month but the cross-listing could not have been undertaken as it occurred in the month of Ramadhan.The Kenyan based retailer, which already has four branches in Tanzania, said it will cross-list on the Dar es Salaam bourse on August 15.The listing is expected to increase Uchumi’s market visibility and boost its rights issue plans. Read more ▪ Uchumi May Ditch Uganda Landlord Over Sales Traffic Regional retailer Uchumi Supermarkets has issued one of its landlords in Kampala, Uganda a notice to move following low business volumes in an upmarket mall, which it blames on poor customer traffic. Uchumi which is an anchor tenant at the Freedom City mall located off Kampala-Entebbe Highway, said the tenancy mix at the shopping centre is a challenge that was affecting its business."The landlord has declined to engage professional agents. The tenancy lease was wanting and the landlord appears unable to attract tenancy that attracts customers," said Uchumi CEO Jonathan Ciano."We are still operating there, although we have given them a notice that we may not be able to continue there," added Ciano.A rich tenancy mix, he said, entails outlets that are popular to clientele in an area a mall is located, hence attracting a higher customer traffic and boosting sales. Read more ▪  Uchumi has dismissed allegations that it has been collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) on behalf of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and not remitting it.Speaking to the Daily Monitor last week, the Uchumi Supermarkets (U) Ltd country manager, Mr Jeff Nchaga, denies any non-compliance, saying the mentioned matter is not in any way related to Uchumi (U) Ltd.“Uchumi Supermarkets is law abiding and a tax compliant company that cannot dodge remitting VAT,” Mr Nchaga said.The Uganda Revenue Authority published a list of 901 firms, whose VAT registration was cancelled at the beginning of last month, saying they had been collecting the tax on its behalf and not remitting it to the tax body.URA also went ahead and warned the public against accepting VAT invoices from the published companies. Read more ▪  Uchumi eyes Shs168b from stock market Uchumi Supermarkets intends to accumulate Shs168 billion from the stock market through a rights issue following an approval from the Capital Markets Authority.The firm which cross-listed its shares on the Uganda and Rwanda bourses last year, is riding on the wider pool of potential investors to buy into its company with the view of funding its expansion plans.The money, according to the Uchumi chief executive officer Jonathan Ciano, will enable the firm increase its turnover in addition to funding its regional expansion plans and refurbishing the existing outlets in Kenya. “We also want to pro-actively position ourselves and be able to finance working capital for our subsidiaries with a consequent growth in market share and sales volumes,” Mr Ciano said in a statement . Read more ▪ Uchumi to list shares in Uganda Uchumi Supermarket will this week cross-list its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange after getting approval from the capital markets regulators. Currently listed on the Nairobi and Rwanda stock exchanges, Uchumi becomes the first supermarket chain to mark list on Uganda’s bourse. Read more. ▪  Uchumi to cross-list at Uganda bourse this year Current and potential investors on the Uganda Securities Exchange are set to have more investment options to choose from now that Uchumi Supermarkets is in advanced stages of acquiring approvals to cross-list on the local bourse. Read more ▪ |