Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company (“BOC Holdings” and, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) announces the successful completion of a voluntary staff exit plan (the “Plan”).
The Plan is in line with the Group’s strategy of further improving efficiency through branch rationalisation and workforce streamlining.
Through the Plan, some 550 applicants have been approved to leave at a total cost of €99 million, expected to be recorded in the consolidated income statement in the third quarter. Following the completion of this Plan, the number of employees is reduced by with an estimated annual saving of €37 million or 19% of staff costs.
In addition, the Group has reduced its number of branches by 20 year-to-date to 60, a reduction of 25%.
Through these two successful initiatives, the Group has delivered ahead of schedule on its commitment to reduce its workforce by 15% and its number of branches by 25% by the end of 2022.
Including this latest reduction, the Group has reduced the number of employees by more than 1,300 since June 2019, a reduction of 30%, and the size of its branch network by 37 branches, a reduction of 40%.
Panicos Nicolaou, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Cyprus Holdings, commented that, “The successful completion of this latest voluntary exit plan, means that we are achieving ahead of schedule our objective of right-sizing the Bank, which is key for the improvement of our operating efficiency, the sustainability of our business model and the achievement of our medium-term targets.”
