Last week, Comerica announced it was cutting about 250 jobs and closing 26 banking centers in Arizona, California, Michigan and Texas.
Comerica recorded a total of $25 million in severance benefits in its fourth-quarter earnings release on January 19, some of which was due to branch closures. Described as an “expense realignment initiative”, the bank said the fee is expected to strengthen its earning power and create capacity for strategic and risk management investments.
“As we stated in our fourth quarter/full year 2023 earnings call, we are taking steps to rationalize our real estate. However, none of our banking centers in Dallas-Fort Worth are impacted. “No,” a company spokesperson said. dallas morning news in a statement sent via email.
“Additionally, we will streamline our management structure and eliminate approximately 250 employees nationwide, including 28 colleagues (primarily non-customer-facing) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We continue to closely manage expenses. and ultimately create investment capacity that benefits customers,” the spokesperson added.
Comerica has cut costs by $45 million this year and plans to save another $10 million by 2025.
“We will consider the balance between what drives our earnings and what we believe will continue to drive our earnings,” CEO Curt Farmer said on a Jan. 19 conference call with analysts. “We have been very careful in this regard,” he said, pointing out the importance of financial services. The industry has reached a turning point in 2023.
Aimed at building a more sustainable business amid current market conditions and interest rate pressures, these initiatives include investments in financial management, capital markets, and expansion into new markets and SMEs. .
“We're really looking for the long game here and trying to get past the immediate environment that we're operating in, so we want to stay focused on those,” Farmer said.
Comerica's focus on small businesses is already beginning to bear fruit in Dallas with the launch of Comerica Business Headquarters. BusinessHQ is located on the R.L. Thornton Freeway in southeast Dallas and spans 8,000 square feet, offering member services such as workspace, a business boot camp, and networking opportunities.
Areas for Comerica's further expansion include digitalization and online capabilities, areas where the bank has historically under-invested, Chief Financial Officer Jim Herzog said on Friday's conference call. He said he thought it might be possible.
“But I also think that we haven't always invested as much as we could historically, whether it's in our risk management framework or in some of our product innovations. And we're playing catch-up in this area. I'd much rather be in the lead,” Herzog said.
“So we think it's easiest to just hunker down and starve the company, but that's not what we want to do. So we feel like we're doing the right thing. We feel we will have positive operating leverage as we move forward,” Herzog continued.
Comerica's continued investment in Dallas-Fort Worth includes the launch of a new business and innovation hub along Cowboys Way at The Star in Frisco, which officially opened last month.the bank said news “Selected colleagues have been transferred to new offices.”
The bank's new corporate location was expected to have around 300 employees when initially announced, with roles focused on digital and business innovation. At the time, the hub would also house a dedicated learning and interview center for the bank's human resources department.
Despite the layoffs, Comerica's headcount increased from 7,488 to 7,701 compared to the same period last year.
