Dubai Emirates NBD plans to cut as much as 15 per cent of its workforce to reduce costs, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The job cuts will affect about 500 to 700 employees across all departments and are likely to be carried out this month, said one of the people, declining to be identified because the information is private.
The reductions will affect only Emirates NBD and not the group, which also includes subsidiaries Emirates Islamic Bank and Dubai Bank, the source said.
A spokesman for Emirates NBD declined to comment. He didn't want to be identified because of company policy.
Loan defaults in the UAE increased after the global credit crisis hurt the country's real-estate industry and as assets prices slumped.
Emirates NBD is one of the biggest lenders to Dubai World, which restructured $25 billion (Dh91.80 billion) of debt after roiling global markets by seeking to delay payments in 2009.
Guarantee
Emirates NBD, which is 56 per cent owned by the Dubai government, acquired unprofitable Dubai Bank last year and received a deposit from the federal government and a state guarantee as part of the deal.
The lender in February reported an 8 per cent increase in 2011 profit to Dh2.53 billion.
Emirates NBD's ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans will rise to between 14 per cent and 15 per cent this year and to between 15 per cent and 16 per cent in 2013, the bank said in February.
