According to Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, Millennium bcp, owner of Bank Millennium in Poland, has announced it will reduce its headcount by 600 employees by the end of 2013. According to the bank’s spokesperson Erik Burns, the personnel reduction is only planned in Portugal, where the bank employs 9,900 people, and no layoffs are planned for the Polish subsidiary Bank Millennium.
Our view:
The management of Bank Millennium recently stated that the aim is to keep operating costs flattish year-on-year in 2012 by launching various cost-saving initiatives. At the same time, the management admitted there is not much room for cost reductions within the current infrastructure, beyond keeping costs at the 2011 level. Thus far the management has decided not to implement a restructuring program, although the bank’s employment dropped by 130 people or 2.1% in 1H12, through natural attrition according to management. In the last wave of the crisis (from 3Q08 until 4Q10) Bank Millennium reduced the number of employees by 952 people, or 13.5%. In our opinion restructuring at Bank Millennium is inevitable, especially if revenue growth remains subdued. We only expect the announcement of a potential restructuring program next year. We expect the news to have a neutral trading impact.