-- (Updates with confirmation, comment from Danske Commodities throughout.)
Equinor's energy trading unit Danske Commodities has shed close to 5% of its 600-strong workforce in order to focus more on technology-based operations, it said in a statement emailed toon Thursday.
Jonas Skovbjerg Hansen, Vice President of People & Culture, Danske Commodities said 28 employees were let go in March.
"Danske Commodities has introduced a new and more focused commercial strategy, building on our position of strength within tech trading and asset management," he said.
"Our ambition is to ensure that we have the right capabilities to deliver on our strategy. This means that some positions have been discontinued, while new positions are being established."
Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the situation, said traders and other staff were affected.
The cull comes after Danske Commodities reorganized its Asian operations resulting in a smaller trading team. The company had made huge profits during times of volatility and high prices but struggled to replicate those returns in calmer markets, the Bloomberg article said.
The company's full-year results, published on Thursday, show it made a full-year profit of 88 million euros ($103.8 million).