Africa-Press – Namibia. TRUSTCO Group will lay off eight of its Walvis Bay branch workers after the company decided to close down the satellite office.
Trustco spokesperson Neville Basson has confirmed the development.
Basson says the retrenched group comprises sales and customer-care representatives, student support staff, and cleaners of various of the company’s subsidiaries.
“The branch office became redundant after these companies embarked on a digitalisation process during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says.
Basson says due to digitalisation, all sales and claims processes and support services are now available online, making the Walvis Bay regional office redundant.
Once the branch closure is finalised, only the Truscto branches in Windhoek and at Ongwediva would remain.
This follows another retrenchment exercise in October 2021.
At the time, Trustco said subdued business confidence necessitated the streamlining of operations and staff to enable the group to effectively operate.
Basson says Trustco has a continuous retrenchment process in place to maintain cost efficiency as its subsidiary companies’ digitalisation processes bear fruit.
Trustco has posted losses in two consecutive financial years, totalling N$1,3 billion in 2021.
Since April 2019, Trustco’s staff complement has been reduced by over 260 employees due to restructuring within its investee companies.
During the release of the group’s 2021 financial results in January this year, the chairman of the Trustco board, Raymond Heathcote, said Namibia’s operating environment has been tough.
Heathcote said with hardly any economic growth the company chose to remain focused on streamlining their investee companies to increase profitability while contributing to the economy.
“Although Trustco continues to trade at a sizable discount to its intrinsic value, the board remains focused on creating wealth for stakeholders by growing its underlying investee companies and pursuing value-unlocking initiatives wherever possible,” he said.
Trustco’s revenue for the group decreased from N$618 million to N$313 million – down by 49% – in 2021.
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