Companies
Portland Cement fires all 270 employees, to rehire on contract
Tuesday, September 1, 2020 16:06
By STANLEY NGOTHO
East African Portland Cement Company #ticker:EAPCC (EAPCC) has declared redundant all its 270 employees with an eye on trimming the company’s wage bill further.
EAPCC latest move is aimed to cut costs as outlined in the turnaround strategy adopted by the board and comply with regulations outlined by the State Corporations Advisory Committee.
The cement maker acting managing director Stephen Nthei said the company has been adversely affected by Covid-19 pandemic prompting the management to restructure operations.
Mr Nthei said that the fired employees will be rehired on contract.
“We have been restructuring to turnaround the company economically… Recently the board developed a new salary structure which is to be filed with the State Corporations Advisory Committee to ensure compliance,” Mr Nthei said.
Last year, the trouble NSE-listed firm sent home 800 employees in a bit to reduce the firm’s bloated wage bill.
Mr Nthei explained the company revenue cannot meet monthly expenditure as domestic cement consumption has fallen by eight percent in the last three months due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The cash-strapped firm’s net loss widened to Sh1.5 billion in the six months to December 2019 from Sh1.2 billion in a similar period in 2018.
Staff costs were at an estimated Sh4 billion last year consuming up to 80 per cent of the company’s sales, which were recorded at Sh5 billion in 2018.
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