Lloyds Banking Group PLC on Tuesday said it is cutting close to 1,000 U.K. positions and closing some offices, as the bank continues to reduce costs and streamline its business.
The bank, in which the U.K. government has a 41% stake following a bailout after the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis, said it is cutting 990 positions at four sites across the U.K. at its group operations, group executive functions, risk, wholesale and insurance divisions.
Lloyds said its intention, where possible, is to reduce the positions through natural turnover and voluntary redundancy, but that some compulsory redundancies will likely be necessary.
Office sites in Newcastle, Romford and Scunthorpe in England will be closed. Further cuts will be made at an office in Leeds.
This is the latest tranche of headcount reductions announced as part of a strategy review presented by Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio after he took the job in 2011. After these cuts, Lloyds will have eliminated close to 4,000 jobs.
The bank aims to reduce annual costs by roughly £1.5 billion within three years.
In addition to job cuts, Lloyds plans to make efficiency savings by improving processes and technology, reducing management layers and centralizing support functions. The bank said it will be able to invest an extra £2 billion between 2011 and 2014 to expand its core operations, which include retail banks Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and insurer Scottish Widows.
This story first appeared on WSJ.com.
Write to Jessica Hodgson at jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com
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