HypoVereinsbank, Germany's second-biggest bank, said yesterday it would cut another 2,200 jobs as it blamed worsening economic conditions for a slump in third-quarter profit.
The job losses in retail banking, which will take effect by 2004, come on top of 7,500 cuts that the bank already has announced. It plans to close 170 branches of its branches in 2002 and 2003.
HypoVereinsbank's latest job reductions follow a series of similar announcements from other major German banks, which also have been struggling with high costs and a slowing economy.
Last week, Commerzbank said it would drop 3,400 jobs, while Deutsche Bank, the country's largest, has said it will shed 2,600 jobs by 2003 and Dresdner Bank says it will cut 7,800.
HypoVereinsbank said Thursday its net profit fell 48 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, to 68 million euros (US$60.5 million) from 131 million euros. Still, the figure beat analysts' expectations, which ranged from 27 million to 45 million euros (US$24 million to US$40.5 million).
"The difficult market environment in the first half has worsened in the third quarter. The negative capital market trend accelerated," CEO Albrecht Schmidt said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
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The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
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