Deutsche Bank‘s decision to integrate Postbank into its private and commercial clients division will lead to a “difficult” period and will “inevitably” result in further job cuts, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Cryan told CNBC on Monday.
“There will be a difficult integration process in Germany but it’s only in Germany that that applies,” Cryan said from the company’s London headquarters, referring to the bank’s announcement Sunday to combine the units and create a “clear market leader”.
Cryan added that further headcount reductions would be unavoidable but that Germany’s largest lender had not yet worked out exact numbers or developed a plan. He noted that a program of branch closures and headcount cuts within Deutsche Bank’s German operations still had another quarter or two to play out, after which point the bank should have a plan in place to tackle this latest integration.
The company chief disagreed with the notion that the discount being applied to shares in order to raise 8 billion euros ($8.5 billion) through a rights issue was wide, telling CNBC, “I think the pricing looks about right.”
