(Reuters) -Bank of Nova Scotia will cut about 3% of its global workforce as a part of efforts to streamline operations, Canada’s fourth largest bank said on Wednesday.
The move will result in restructuring charge and severance provisions of about C$247 million ($180.91 million), the bank said.
Scotiabank is the latest Canadian bank to cut jobs following Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal in response to rising costs amid a challenging, high interest rate environment.
Scotibank said the layoffs were also a result of its digitization and automation efforts, and changes in customers’ day-to-day banking preferences.
Bank CEO Scott Thomson, who took charge in February, made a number of leadership changes in August ahead of a strategic overhaul the bank is expected to launch at its investor day in December.
Scotiabank, which had 91,013 full-time equivalent employees at the end of July 31, said its fourth-quarter results would be adjusted, affecting its results by about C$590 million after-tax, or about 49 Canadian cents per share.
It also expects costs of C$63 million related to the consolidation and exit of certain real estate premises and service contracts, and impairment charges of C$280 million related to its investment in Bank of Xi’an Co.
“We interpret the writedowns as a cleanup of the balance sheet, and we view this positively,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Darko Mihelic said, noting it was a “small step in the right direction.”
Scotiabank is set to release its fourth-quarter results on Nov. 28.
($1 = 1.3653 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Jonathan Oatis)
