Clearwater-based Nicholas Financial will close several of its branches and lay off about one-tenth of its employees, according to a form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the filing, the company said it would be closing seven of its branches, which represents 14 percent of its total branches. It also said it would be reducing its workforce by 20 employees, which accounted for 9 percent of the company workforce as of March 31.
Nicholas Financial said the closures were because some branches' performances had "consistently fallen short of management’s expectations during the 2020 Fiscal Year," according to the filing. The company wrote that it expected total charges related to the consolidation activities to fall between $100,000 and $200,000, with about $40,000 for employee-related costs and $120,000 for lease obligations.
According to the company's website, Nicholas Financial operates more than 50 locations in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The filing did not say where the closed branches were located.
The company could not be reached for further comment.