Laurentian takes $164 million in charges under CEO’s revamp

Laurentian Bank of Canada plans to take $209 million of pre-tax charges in its fiscal fourth quarter as part of chief executive officer Rania Llewellyn’s plans to turn around the lender.

The charges will reduce reported diluted earnings per share by about $3.73 and lower the company’s Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio by about 25 basis points, the Montreal-based bank said Tuesday.

Llewellyn, who became CEO in October 2020, has been conducting a strategic review of Laurentian. The bank said it will hold an investor day on Dec. 10 to lay out its new plans.

The charges include a writedown of $93 million related to an overhaul of its personal-banking segment; $49 million to cut its leased corporate office space in Toronto, Burlington and Montreal by 50 per cent; $9 million in severance charges; and $38 million to scrap the second phase of a planned technology overhaul. The bank also will increase allowances and provisions for credit losses by $19 million.