Investment banking giant to axe 210 jobs in ‘challenging’ time

INVESTMENT banking giant Investec has confirmed plans to axe 210 jobs at its London headquarters after battling the “challenging economic backdrop”.

The company said it will cut around 13 per cent of its Londonbased roles in order to help “simplify and focus the business”.

The UK and South African firm said its performance in the five months to August 31 was impacted by lower average interest rates, reduced client activity and a 22 per cent depreciation of the rand against the pound.

Fani Titi, chief executive of Investec, said severe contractions in GDP and volatile international markets pressed down on revenues during the period.

However, he added that the business “proved resilient” despite the impact of lockdowns in the first quarter before economies slowly started to reopen.

Investec said that funding under management increased by 14.1 per cent to £51.4 billion, while its net inflows were positive at £391 million.

Meanwhile, its core loans and advances declined by 1.3 per cent to £24.6 billion for the period.

The firm told investors it reduced its operating costs following the pandemic as management aimed to tighten its “controllable costs”.

It also said it now expects net asset value per share to increase to between 422p and 428p by the end of September, up from 414.3p at the end of the previous financial year.

However, it warned that expected credit losses are to remain elevated as it said it does not anticipate paying out an interim dividend.

Mr Titi said: “Capital and liquidity ratios remain robust and are expected to be stable.

“The business is well positioned to support its clients through this challenging environment.

“We will continue to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our people and the integrity of our balance sheet.”