State-owned Italian bank Monte dei Paschi has reported a net loss for the third quarter, due to one-off charges arising from the decision to lay off some 20% of its workforce as part of restructuring plans.
The world’s oldest bank reported a net loss of 387.7 million euros ($395.8 million) for the three months to the end of September, compared with a 186 million euro ($179.7 million) profit over the same period one year previously.
The losses were the result of a generous early retirement scheme offered to employees, with the bank saying it had booked 925 million euros in charges in the period to finance the early exit of 4,125 employees.
Monte dei Paschi CEO Luigi Lovaglio said branches would lose 14% of staff as a result of the cuts, with the remaining job losses coming in non-customer facing roles.
“We’ve been working since the very beginning to set up a … commercial plan to ensure full operational services and effective coverage of customers from day one,” he told analysts.
“No negative impact on revenues is expected,” he added.
The bank completed a capital increase of EUR2.5 billion earlier this month as part of plans to pay for restructuring costs and shore up its capital base.