PriceSensitive

Fire at Eneco Refresh (ASX:ERG) factory halts operations

ASX News, Consumer
ASX:ERG      MCAP $1.907M
10 February 2023 08:22 (AEST)

This browser does not support the video element.

Bottled water company, Eneco Refresh (ERG) has halted all operations at its Melbourne factory in Olive Grove, following a fire discovered in the early morning of February 8.

The company said while fortunately there were no staff onsite at the time, there was damage to one of three buildings on the premise — the consequences of which could impact ERG’s future earnings.

This building is one of two used by Eneco’s subsidiary, Refresh Plastics, housing 90 per cent of its manufacturing, as well as the Melbourne head office.

The second building accounts for the rest of Refresh Plastics’ manufacturing, houses ERG’s PET blowmoulding facility and is also used as a warehouse. While it was not affected by the fire, there is currently no power supply to it and Eneco hopes new cabling will be installed within two months.

The fire could potentially be a blow to the company’s future earnings, as Refresh Plastics contributed 18 per cent to Eneco’s revenue last financial year.

The company said it was unclear how it would proceed with future operations related to its plastics division, but it was working this out with its insurers.

The third building at the site houses the company’s bottled water operations and is expected to resume operations on Monday, February 13.

Eneco said the cause of the fire was unknown and the incident was being investigated.

ERG shares are currently in a trading halt, last trading at 1.6 cents on February 8.

Related News