Public Trustee lost $12m last year, more than double what it had forecast
The Public Trustee of Queensland has suffered a big hit to its bottom line, according to its annual report. But that didn’t stop the Acting Public Trustee and CEO from describing the document in glowing terms in an email to his troops.
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BIG HIT
The Public Trustee of Queensland suffered a big hit to its bottom line in the year to June 30 and more pain is on the way.
The embattled agency reported a $12m operating loss in its annual report, which was quietly tabled in Parliament last week.
It was more than double the $5.4m of forecasted red ink and far worse than the $800,000 loss reported in 2019.
That didn’t stop Acting Public Trustee and CEO Samay Zhouand from sending an email to his troops which described the document in glowing terms.
“The annual report celebrates the success of the Public Trustee over the last 12 months. I am proud of our achievements,’’ he wrote.
Nowhere does he address the loss although he acknowledges the year “was not without its challenges’’.
WASTE OF TIME
Zhouand also highlights a raft of “improvements to help our staff,’’ including greater use of digital records to allow for reduced printing.
But that’s not how plenty of staffers see it.
“The ‘improvements’ listed at the bottom of the email have not provided any significant improvements that are measurable by staff who provide services to the customer,’’ one insider told us.
“For example, the email outlines efficiencies through digital records. However every single piece of paper that we receive in the mail is not only scanned into the system but staff are still required to physically file the paperwork in a physical file. It’s a massive waste of time and double handling.’’
The self-funded organisation, which controls nearly $980m in assets for clients, was last in the black in 2018, when it generated a $3.4m surplus.
So what caused the latest big loss?
The report says cuts to services due to COVID-19 and rent relief took a bite out of revenue, while added costs were incurred for helping staff work remotely and extra cleaning services.
At the same time, employee expenses shot up 8.1 per cent as a result of wage hikes and a one-off payment of $1250 to all staff.
The outlook is not forecast to improve any time soon, with a budget deficit tipped for the current financial year thanks to ongoing pressures from low interest rates, the pandemic and a customer rebate program.
BARGAIN BUY
Former Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris has splashed out $1.65m to pick up a swag of discounted shares in Brisbane battery materials and testing firm Novonix.
We learned on Monday that Liveris, who sits on the company board, added 2.5 million shares to his already hefty portfolio at the bargain price of just 66 cents a piece since he was able exercise options.
He’s already made a heap of dough on the deal, with the stock last closing at $1.04. That’s down from a high of nearly $2 earlier this month but still not bad.
The big buy happened to take place on the same day last week that Novonix unveiled a substantial management reshuffle which saw former boss Philip St Baker head for the exits.
HUGE RESPONSE
A Queensland charity which raises money for people doing it tough in the bush has had an astounding response to its new and radically improved website for car raffles.
About $10,000 poured in during the first minute the site went live for Australian Horizons Foundation, chief executive Neill Newton told City Beat on Monday.
The same campaign has now raised about $875,000 and another one of the group’s monthly raffles has already taken in $675,000.
AHF, based in the tiny gulf hamlet of Georgetown, about five hours west of Cairns, expects to pull in between $7m and $8m this year for rural communities suffering from drought, debt and other ills, Newton said.
In good news for the bush, he expects those number to double next year.