Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., reported a sharp decline in quarterly earnings that reflected its special assessment from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and charges tied to cutting 650 jobs.
The $222 billion-asset company said in a press release that its fourth-quarter earnings fell by 71% from a year earlier, to $189 million. The results included a $225 million assessment to help replenish the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund following high-profile bank failures last spring.
The company, which eliminated 3.5% of its workforce through layoffs and attrition, Citizens recorded $115 million in costs tied severance and other efficiency measures. It also had $5 million of integration costs associated with two recent acquisitions.
“I think we’re kind of lean and mean and in good fighting shape as we enter into 2024,” Bruce Van Saun, Citizens’ chairman and CEO, said during a conference call to discuss quarterly results.
Citizens had previously announced plans to exit the wholesale mortgage and auto businesses.