Group Five retrenches

Johannesburg – Listed construction company Group Five is

going through a restructuring and is set to retrench.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the embattled company

said most of its changes are aimed at unlocking shareholder value and addressing

mainly the loss-making Engineering & Construction (E&C) cluster.

The changes are being implemented by acting CEO Themba

Mosai, who joined the company in March. Group Five continues to seek a permanent

replacement, it says.’

It says the E&C Cluster has now been split into

Construction: South Africa, Construction: Rest of Africa and engineer, procure

and construct (EPC) sector businesses.

“These changes will result in more focused businesses

with appropriate resources and cost bases relevant to the regions and service

offerings provided.”

This change, it says, led to the implementation of

voluntary and forced retrenchments that are set to conclude at the end of June.

Group Five did not indicate how many people were affected

by the retrenchments.

The South African and Rest of Africa Construction

businesses will be led by the executive director of Construction, Mark

Humphreys, who has been with the group for 29 years.

Read also:  More senior staff casualties at Group Five

Peter de Vries, who has been with the group for 11 years

and has significance experience in EPC contracting, will lead the EPC / sector-driven

business.

The group will continue to support and grow its annuity

and cash-generating clusters of Investments & Concessions and

Manufacturing. The strategic equity partnership with Aberdeen Infrastructure

Funds, currently being implemented in the Investments & Concessions cluster

and announced on December 5, is progressing well with only a number of outstanding

regulatory conditions to be met, says Group Five.

The group adds its Kpone Independent Power Plant (Kpone)

project is now approaching its completion phase.

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