LISTED food and beverage group, Cairns Holdings Limited has said negotiations have reached an advanced stage for the Finance Trust of Zimbabwe (Private) Limited - the investment arm of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe - to dispose of its entire stake in the group.

The RBZ holds a 63,3 per cent interest in the company through the Finance Trust of Zimbabwe, making the central bank the largest shareholder in the company.

The development is expected to help the company raise much-needed capital to finance its operations.

The RBZ is disposing of several of its investments in a bid to reduce debts said to be more than a billion dollars. A similar deal was recently reached for the disposal of a 57 per cent interest in Tractive Power Holdings to Zimplow for about US$9.7 million.

Meanwhile Cairns recorded an operating loss of US$US$771,638 over the six months to February 2012, compared to about US$486,805 over the same period last year.

Management blamed the poor performance on depressed volumes at Cairns Food as well as non-activity at ME Charhons.

The company says it is struggling to take advantage of the relative improvement in the country’s economy due to the lack of working capital.

“The macro-economic environment has remained relatively stable throughout the period under review despite the liquidity challenges that continues to prevail,”Kwenda said.

“The relatively stable economic environment continues to provide the necessary platform for the recovery of the food industry industry’s capacity utilisation.

“The company is about to conclude a supply chain management agreement with a third party which will assist in turning around the group by December 2012.”