Metro Bank plans to make hundreds of job cuts as it reviews seven-day opening hours and implements £50m of cost savings.
The embattled lender has “identified potential cost savings of up to £50m per year” in a pair of trading statements this morning.
This will involve “reviewing seven-day opening and extended store hours across the store network” of around 75 UK branches.
The move “is expected to result in a 20% headcount reduction” from the bank’s current headcount of just over 4,250 staff.
It is in “discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority about the customer implications of any such changes”.
The lender expects to complete its cost reduction plan during the first quarter of 2024 and will book a £10m to 15m one-off restructuring charge this year.
In a separate statement, the bank says three members of its board — Anne Grim, Ian Henderson and Monique Melis — will step down at the end of the year.
Metro Bank chief executive Daniel Frumkin says: “We remain committed to stores and the high street but will transition to a more cost-efficient business model while remaining focussed on customer service.”
Shares in Metro Bank lifted 5% to 40.5p in mid-morning trading, valuing the business at £92.8m. Its stock has fallen more than 60% since the beginning of the year.
Its statements come after the bank’s shareholders voted to back a £925m refinancing plan to shore up its finances earlier this week.
Its new £50m cost savings plan comes on top of £30m of savings outlined in the refinancing plan approved this week.
The lender, which has around 2.7 million customers and holds about £15bn worth of deposits, was founded in 2010 and was the first high-street bank launch in more than 100 years.
In 2019, the bank suffered a £900m accounting scandal, when it emerged that the risk attached to some of its loans had been underestimated. The business and some of its senior officers were fined £10m for misleading investors.
