GUINNESS Nigeria Plc confirms that it has responded to a court process at the instance of Pharma Deko Plc which alleges that Guinness Nigeria is contractually indebted to Pharma Deko Plc in the sum of N175, 699, 317.99 representing an arbitral award made against the company and in favour of Pharma Deko Plc and also suggests that Guinness Nigeria is unable to pay this debt.
In a statement made available to the Tribune Online, Guinness Nigeria denied that it is indebted to Pharma Deko Plc in the stated amount or any amount at all and its solicitors have filed a robust defence to Pharma Deko’s claims in court.
“The amount claimed by Pharma Deko Plc in the court process is an insignificant amount when compared with the revenue, cash flow and balance sheet of the company and management is very confident of being able to repudiate the claims in court,” it said.
The management of Guinness Nigeria, however, assured its employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders that it was capable of meeting its financial and other obligations to its various stakeholders and that it continued to operate as a going concern.
It will be recalled that Pharma-Deko Plc has filed a winding-up petition against Guinness Nigeria Plc, over N175, 699, 317.99 million debts at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
In the petition marked FHC/L/CP/69/2017, the firm, through its counsel, Chief (Mrs.) Williams Akinjide (SAN), Pharma-Deko urged the court to wind-up Guinness Nigeria Plc, due to inability to pay an undisputed contractual debt of N175, 699,317.99 million.
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