The bank has undergone significant change in recent months under the leadership of chief executive Georges Elhedery, who has spearheaded an overhaul of its global structure as part of plans to drastically reduce costs and focus on more profitable parts of the business.
To achieve the reduction, the bank said it planned to incur $1.8bn (£1.4bn) in severance and other up-front costs over the next two years, as well as redeploying around $1.5bn (£1.2bn) from “non-strategic activities” to areas where it has “a clear competitive advantage”.
The UK’s largest bank confirmed its plans to make cost reductions as it revealed a pre-tax profit of $32.3bn (£25.6bn) for 2024 on Wednesday in its annual results.
Mr Elhedery said: “Our strong 2024 performance provides firm financial foundations upon which to build for the future, as we prioritise delivering sustainable strategic growth and the best outcomes for our customers.
The announcement said the company’s reorganisation aims to generate cost reductions of $0.3bn (£0.24bn) in 2025 with the commitment to the $1.5bn (£1.2bn) annualised reduction in the cost base expected by the end of 2026.
