Bloomberg – Fortis, Belgium’s biggest financial-services company, dismissed some of its 3,000 top managers as Chief Executive Officer Jean-Paul Votron implements a plan to improve leadership and make savings.
Among the management group, “less than 10 percent” have left Fortis, the company said in an e-mail today. Net income in the fourth quarter rose 24 percent to 461 million euros ($550 million), said Fortis, based in Brussels and the Dutch city of Utrecht. Revenue increased 26 percent to 2.16 billion euros.
Fortis will continue to appraise managers, Votron said today in an interview. The company said it is on course for 100 million euros in cost cuts this year as Votron trims the payroll. He started the staff evaluation last January to identify executives able to help Fortis meet its target of 10 percent average annual growth in per-share earnings.
“Fortis has been doing fairly well but it needs to pick up the tempo a bit,” said Rene Bastiaenen, a partner at money manager Eureffect BV in Amsterdam. “It’s looking for ways to streamline the company, like much of the banking sector.”
Shares of Fortis have risen 5.6 percent this year. Stock of KBC Groep NV, Belgium’s second-largest financial-services company, has increased 8.4 percent.
Fortis on March 3 said 2005 profit rose 32 percent as banking earnings climbed and fourth-quarter “net profit before results on divestments” rose 24 percent to 461 million euros.
The company paid 202 million euros in the fourth quarter to make job cuts and upgrade management. Insurance pretax profit fell 35 percent to 276 million euros and banking earnings almost tripled to 402 million euros in the quarter.
