Piñatex Enters Insolvency Proceedings Amid Economic Challenges

The sustainability crisis reaches the Spanish next gen . The company Ananas Anam UK, the parent company of the Spanish company specialized in the development of sustainable fibers through pineapple, has entered the equivalent of an insolvency proceeding in the United Kingdom. The company’s Spanish subsidiary, Ananas Anam España, is also currently in pre-insolvency proceedings, pending court approval of the company’s liquidation, as confirmed to Modaes by company sources.

The company officially entered into insolvency proceedings in the UK in August this year, after several attempts to improve its financial situation through capital injections, and after the company’s liquidation.s capital injections, and even assessing the possibility of sale to another company, as stated in the documentation deposited by Ananas Anam in the British registry. The company’s difficult financial situation and the impossibility of reaching an agreement with the two offers received led to the country’s court decision to appoint two insolvency administrators for the company on August 19th.

According to the same document, to which Modaes has had access, Ananas Anam UK ended the 2023 financial year with a turnover of 240,849 pounds ($318,455), compared to 419,849 pounds ($555,133) the previous year. The company also worsened losses during the period, from 839,327 pounds ($1.1 million) to more than 1.14 million pounds ($1.5 million).

Piñatex is the star fiber of Ananas Anam, whose parent company closed 2023 with a loss of $1.5 million 

Founded in 2013 by Carmen Hijosa, the company currently operated through two subsidiaries: Ananas Anam Spain, based in Canet de Mar, in Barcelona, and Ananas Anam Philippines, located in the Asian country, with a staff of between 15 and 20 workers each. The Spanish company is also in insolvency proceedings, and, according to sources consulted by Modaes, it will soon apply to the Court for insolvency proceedings and the liquidation of the company.

Along with the fall in the parent company’s business, Ananas Anam España also recorded a drop in turnover. According to the latest accounts filed with the Commercial Registry, the company completed the 2023 financial year with a turnover of €518,515, 20.4% less than the previous year.

Among the main items, the fall in other operating income stands out, which went from €23,006 to just €12,961, together with the increase in expenses: at the end of the period, the company recorded personnel expenses of €673,748, double the figure for the previous year.

In Spain, the subsidiary of the business is awaiting court approval for its liquidation

At year-end, moreover, the company almost doubled its red numbers. If in 2022 the Spanish subsidiary’s losses stood at €580,24, by 2023, the figure had risen to €1.03 million. The operating result, meanwhile, stood at a negative €1.3 million at the end of the year, compared with a loss of €741,926 in the previous year.

The company’s debt, meanwhile, was reduced during the year: in total, Ananas Anam’s liabilities at year-end 2023 stood at €2.14 million, compared with €3.32 million the previous year. Short-term debt was significantly reduced to €131,277, compared to more than €2.4 million in the previous year, mainly due to the reduction in liabilities to creditors and despite an increase in debts to banks.

Non-current liabilities, i.e. those held by the company in the long term, did increase during the year, to €2.01 million, compared with €872,330 in 2022. This rise was mainly due to the increase in debt with other group companies, which went from being non-existent to €1.17 million, while debts with credit institutions were reduced.