In the note, published by the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), the institution, which had been led by António Ramalho, and is now run by Mark Bourke, indicated that on June 30 this year “it had 4,167 employees”, 26 fewer than in December and minus 303 compared to June 2021.

At the same time, on 30 June, “the number of branches amounted to 304”, a reduction of seven compared to December and of 45 in homologous terms.

Even so, “operating costs showed an increase compared to the same period in the previous year (+4.6 million euros)”, or 2.2%.

“The decrease in personnel costs, as a result of the decrease in the number of employees, was not enough to offset the increase in general and administrative expenses and depreciation due to the continued investment in the transformation, optimisation and simplification of the organisation and its processes according to the its strategic program”, said the institution.

In the first half of this year, Novo Banco recorded profits of 266.7 million euros, an increase of 93.7% compared to the same period last year, the institution said.