CHARLESTON, W. Va. The $2.4 billion-asset parent of City National Bank of West Virginia said it would lay off as many as 275 employees over 25% of its work force to streamline operations and reduce expenses.
The cuts, announced Tuesday, are expected to save $7.4 million a year.
City Holding Co., which has been selling off many of its nonbank subsidiaries and focusing on core banking within the state, said it would eliminate the jobs by the end of October and take $1.4 million in restructuring charges in the third and fourth quarters, mainly to cover severance costs.
The restructuring involves cuts in overhead and duplicate operations that were not made with the recent sale of some nonbank units, such as a direct mail company and an Internet service provider.
Gerald R. Francis, who was appointed president and chief executive officer in February to turn the ailing company around, said its 80% efficiency ratio was a major obstacle to profitability. City Holding has been struggling with earnings problems for more than a year.
We cannot only not prosper its difficult to survive with that efficiency ratio, Mr. Francis said.
He also said he expects to reach deals this quarter to sell the companys two California banks, which have been on the block for more than a year.
