Sembcorp Marine averts Q1 loss with one-off disposal gain

Singapore

RIGBUILDER Sembcorp Marine axed 500 workers in its fiscal first quarter and plans more layoffs, it said on Thursday after a one-off disposal gain rescued it from sinking into the red.

Group chief executive officer and president Wong Weng Sun said in a statement that it has cut about 9,000 jobs in total since 2015, including employees and subcontractors, and that the group was "taking steps to further reduce our workforce in tandem with our work requirements". He did not give a breakdown.

He also said that the group has continued to reallocate "excess manpower" from drilling projects to non-drilling work and terminated less efficient subcontractors, adding that "similar measures" have been taken for the group's yard in Brazil.…