One month after the purchase, BPCE CEO visits Novobanco and introduces himself to employees
Novobanco employees meet their future boss today. Nicolas Namias, who has already ruled out layoffs, visits the headquarters in Tagus Park, where he will give a one-hour presentation.
Just over a month after the announcement of the €6.4 billion purchase of Novobanco, Groupe BPCE CEO Nicolas Namias travels to Lisbon this Wednesday to visit the bank’s headquarters in Tagus Park and introduce himself to the employees for the first time.
Nicolas Namias gave a presentation at the end of the morning, at a meeting where the French manager was accompanied by Novobanco CEO Mark Bourke, and to which all employees were invited — including those who do not work at the headquarters, who will be able to watch the session via an online broadcast.
Neither Novobanco nor BPCE have commented on this visit. An official source at the French bank has only said that Nicolas Namias travels to Portugal regularly and has not given any specific details about his visits or planned meetings — this after being asked whether the head of the French bank would be holding any meetings with the Minister of Finance, the Resolution Fund, and the Bank of Portugal (the first two being shareholders holding 25% of the bank, the third acting as supervisor). The ministry, central bank, and fund also remain silent about any meetings with the CEO of BPCE.
The meeting with the future boss is eagerly awaited by employees, who hope he will make commitments about the bank’s future. “We hope that [Nicolas Namias] will tell us what his intentions are for the bank”, Liliana Felício, coordinator of the workers’ committee, told ECO.
“We hope that it will be to ensure that Novobanco’s independence is maintained, jobs are preserved, or even that the bank’s activity grows”, added the workers’ representative.
On June 13, Lone Star, which owns 75% of Novobanco, announced the sale of the financial institution to Groupe BPCE, France’s second-largest bank, which is present in Portugal through Natixis, Oney Bank, and Banco Primus, in a deal valued at €6.4 billion.
On the same day, Nicolas Namias assured that the French bank does not foresee any redundancy program at Novobanco, which had more than 4,200 employees and almost 300 branches at the end of March. “Unlike many others, this transaction is not about cost synergies”, the manager explained in a conference call with journalists.
“Let’s be clear, BPCE currently has 3,000 people in Portugal. But they work for the entire group, it is not a Portuguese bank, so we do not currently have cost synergies between what we have in Portugal and Novobanco. Therefore, this is not a project based on cost synergies and job cuts, I am very clear about that”, he explained, also signaling that the management team led by Mark Bourke is expected to remain in place.
“It has become one of the most profitable banks in Europe, with a cost/income ratio of 33%, so the management has done an excellent job and, of course, I will count on their commitment to us”, he praised.
According to the announcement, the operation should be completed only during the first half of next year, after regulatory approvals have been obtained.
