Aug 2010 Financial News

TSTT posts $200 million

Aug 13, 2010

The Telecommuni-cations Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) has recorded a profit of more than $200 million in the last fiscal year.

“We had another successful year of operations where we recorded a profit of just over $202 million,” said Rakesh Goswami, Chief Financial Officer at TSTT.

Goswami announced the results, via TSTT’s Media Portal, at yesterday’s launch of the new web service from TSTT for media personnel.

Goswami said TSTT’s revenue increased by more than $43 million, or one percent of overall revenue.

“This is particularly important to us in light of the global recession. In TT, the economy faced over three percent reduction in its GDP,” said Goswami.

He also said TSTT had payed bonuses to its managerial staff based on its profits.

“For the year ending March 31, 2010, the company payed bonuses to management staff, which includes executive secretaries, security and senior professionals, heads of departments and executives,” said Goswami.

He said TSTT workers and management were on a 2005 salary payment plan which still exceeded the salaries of personnel in other sectors in later years, according to an Industrial Court survey.

“There was a survey done by the Industrial Court that showed our staff’s salaries, on an average 2005 salary plan, were 150 to 160 percent higher than 2007 and 2008 salaries that they surveyed,” said Goswami. Goswami said management took a decision to “put salary at risk” where they would not receive any retroactive salaries for the past four years.

“They would not receive any back-pay, but would take the payment from a performance plan which the company has implemented. This plan states if the company and management performs, there would be bonuses at the end of the year. If there is no profit, there would be no bonus,” he said.

He said in the year ending March 2007, the company recorded its first ever loss, therefore no bonuses were payed that year and there were no salary increases for management.

President of the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) Joseph Remy, in response, said TSTT continued to record super profits but would not pay its workers appropriate salaries.

“The (Industrial Court) survey which was conducted cannot be accurate because TSTT’s technicians are not comparable to anyone else,” said Remy. “There are a lot of specialised job functions that is just for the telecommunications industry, and so salaries are determined on a lot of different basis.”

He stated Public Utilities Minister Emmanuel George should appoint a board to TSTT immediately. When contacted yesterday, George said he had made a submission to Cabinet for the appointment of all State boards.

“You cannot rush the Cabinet. When it deals with the issue of State boards, then it would be established,” said George.


Source:
Newsday
Friday August 13, 2010

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,125670.html