Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) are set to issue around 6,500 redundancies after reporting 2.44 billion Swiss Francs loss for 2016.
The Swiss bank is looking to reduce costs significantly in order to remain in line with Chief Executive Tidjaine Thiam’s redevelopment objectives. Mr Thiam was appointed to the post just under 18 months ago, and has since been overseeing plans to relocate the group focus towards wealth management instead of investment banking operations.
The additional job reductions follows the cutting of a similar 7,250 roles for 2016 as part of the cost reduction initiatives. However, the banking group have not specified which departments the cuts would affect.
Nevertheless, Credit Suisse did maintain in calls to market analysts that it remains committed to commencing the sell of between 20-30 percent of its business in an initial public offering, and it still is open to other possible alternatives.
“So we will continue as planned our preparations for an IPO in the second half of ’17,” Thiam reportedly told analysts on the call.
“That said, we will also continue to analyze the evolution of our regulatory environment which is key in this and, as we always do, continuously examine a broad range of options to determine if there are ways to reach a more attractive risk/reward outcome for our shareholders.” He added.
Regarding its dividend, the bank remained weary of a fourth quarter net loss of 2.35 billion francs, attributed in majority to the $2 billion settlement charge U.S. relating to allegations over mortgage-backed securities. In spite of the additional financial burden noted in the quarter, the bank remain committed to a dividend of 0.70 francs per share, echoing previous market projections.
In addition, Credit Suisse noted a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 11.6 percent at the end of December, a decrease from 12 percent at the end of September. The bank has set targets to achieve 13 percent by the next year.