CALGARY – Oil company Cenovus announced on Thursday more job cuts are in store amid a fourth-quarter loss of $480.3 million.
According to Cenovus, the company plans to “further reduce its workforce,” which had already been slashed by 24 per cent by the end of 2015. The cuts left Cenovus with a total of about 4,000 staff.
Cenovus also said it plans to “adjust its discretionary spending and compensation programs.”
“The company is undertaking a thorough evaluation of all its staffing costs to align total compensation with the current business environment.”
Cenovus said the company’s president/CEO and four other highest paid executives will see their cash compensation, which was previously reduced in 2015, further reduced.
MORE: Alberta bears brunt of January job losses as oil rout cuts across economy
MORE: One way to get ex-oil workers on job again — cleaning up old wells
The oil company posted a Q4 revenue of $2.19 billion.
On a per-share basis, Cenovus said it had a loss of 58 cents. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 40 cents per share, well below what analysts had expected. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 15 cents per share.
Cenovus shares have declined 23 per cent since the beginning of the year.
The Calgary-based company also reduced its first quarter dividend by 69 per cent to five cents per share.