Germany’s Commerzbank to cut 7,300 jobs in restructuring

BERLIN – German lender Commerzbank says it expects to cut a net 7,300 full time jobs as part of a restructuring to concentrate on its core businesses.

The bank said Thursday that some business activities would be discontinued which, combined with the digitalization and automation of some workflows, would amount to the loss of 9,600 jobs. At the same time, some 2,300 new jobs would be created in areas of business growth.

The Frankfurt-based bank says that to cover restructuring costs of some 1.1 billion euros ($1.23 billion), it will cease dividend payments “for the time being and will retain its full earnings.”

Commerzbank AG currently has some 45,000 full time employees.

Shares were down 0.32 per cent to 5.97 in midday trading in Frankfurt.