MISC dismiss 1400 employees

MISC shift in focus to transportation for the energy sector. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — The Malaysian International Shipping Corporation Bhd (MISC) is retrenching some 1,400 employees worldwide this year following its exit from the liner business, The Sun Daily reported today.

The paper quoted MISC group corporate affairs general manager Fiona Clare Pereira as saying that investment prioritisation and opportunity cost consideration were necessary for MISC in the allocation of resources to support the growth of each business sector.

“Our focus in recent years has been on providing maritime and transportation solutions for the energy sector, and hence, the bulk of our resources are dedicated towards growing our energy-based business segments,” she said.

She added that MISC had established leading market presence in some of the tanker market segments, which the company would continue to build and develop for the future.

Pereira also said that the shipping conglomerate extended a reasonable severance package to affected staff.

It is understood that the first phase of the retrenchment was carried out on March 31 while the second phase will be implemented on June 30.

Pereira said that efforts were under way to place staff who had sought redeployment within the group, while some of the sea-going staff would be re-skilled for employment in its other shipping divisions.

MISC, the listed shipping arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), had announced its exit from the liner business last November in view of the expected larger investment necessary to stay relevant in the industry.

It said its decision was made after the rapid evolvement of the industry, coupled with overcapacity and container rates trending below operating costs, threatened the company’s liner business restructuring plans.

For the three months to December 31, 2011, MISC posted a net loss of RM1.74 billion against a net profit of RM1.38 billion a year earlier. This dragged MISC’s results for the nine-month period to a loss of RM1.48 billion against a net profit of RM2.18 billion in the previous corresponding period.