Abanca announced the conclusion of its voluntary departure program, which initially included the departure of 60 employees from the commercial area, due to the closure of 24 branches after the acquisition of Eurobic. However, the final result exceeded expectations, with 77 employees choosing to leave the institution.
Although the bank has not officially released the numbers, union sources confirmed to the ECO that 67 workers accepted departures by mutual agreement and that 10 decided to join the pre-retirement.
A union source, who preferred to remain anonymous, highlighted that “the process took place extremely peacefully, as there was effective coordination and the unions were informed in advance, allowing each case to be monitored”.
The conditions of mutually agreed terminations included access to unemployment benefit and compensation equivalent to 1.5 salaries per year of service, in addition to health insurance for 12 months and support in finding a new job.
For workers aged 60 or over, those who opted for pre-retirement will be suspended until they reach legal retirement age, receiving 60% of their salary during this period.
When presenting this plan, Abanca, which is finalizing the integration of Eurobic, acquired for 350 million euros last summer, ruled out the possibility of new branch closures or additional terminations, reaffirming that its “strategy is oriented towards an organizational model adjusted to the reality of the banking business”.
With regard to numbers, at the end of last year, Eurobic had 1,467 employees, of which 879 were in the commercial area, operating in 165 branches. Abanca, in turn, had almost 400 employees in Portugal.
Eurobic with 36% profit slip until September
On the other hand, Eurobic’s accounts are not encouraging, with a sharp 36% drop in profits, which stood at 46.1 million euros in the first nine months of the year, according to the results presented by Abanca this week.
The financial margin, which reflects the difference between the interest charged on loans and that paid on deposits, contracted 21.4%, reaching 147.6 million euros.
Contrary to what is observed in large banks, which are increasing both credit and deposits, Eurobic has lost ground on both fronts.
The loan portfolio fell by 3%, totaling 5.3 billion euros, while deposits fell by 1.4%, totaling 7.1 billion euros.
Despite these challenges, business volume managed to stabilize, driven by the significant increase in off-balance sheet resources, such as investment funds, which more than tripled, reaching 364 million euros.