PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said it started reducing headcount by 4% as the bank navigates fallout from higher interest rates that has eaten away at profitability.
(Bloomberg) — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said it started reducing headcount by 4% as the bank navigates fallout from higher interest rates that has eaten away at profitability.
Personnel expenses will fall $325 million in 2024 as a result of the cuts, which began on Oct. 6, the Pittsburgh-based lender said in an earnings presentation Friday. But the move will result in a one-time charge of $150 million during the fourth quarter of this year. The company had 61,545 employees as of December 31.
Chief Executive Officer Bill Demchak said during a financial-services conference last month that the bank would provide an update on a “more structural program” that would affect 2024 expenses.
Profits came in at $3.60 per share, beating the analyst expectation of $3.11 per share but below the $3.78 the bank recorded for the prior-year period.
PNC, which avoided many of the issues that led to the collapse of several regional lenders earlier this year, hasn’t just stayed on the sidelines throughout the turmoil. The bank joined a coalition of lenders that injected billions of deposits into First Republic Bank to try to keep it stable. This month, it bought a $16.6 billion portfolio of capital-commitments facilities arranged by failed Signature Bank.
Read more: PNC Buys Book of Signature Bank’s Private Equity Loans From FDIC
A so-called “super regional,” PNC is the second-largest US regional bank, with $554 billion in assets as of June 30, according to a tally by the Federal Reserve. U.S. Bancorp, the largest bank in that category, is set to report results Wednesday.
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