Credit Suisse plans 2,000 job cuts, as profit drops 52%

Credit Suisse Group, the second-biggest Swiss bank, plans to cut about 2,000 jobs after second-quarter profit fell 52 per cent on lower earnings from trading.

Credit Suisse dropped as much as 4 per cent in Swiss trading after reporting net income of 768 million Swiss francs ($956 million), less than the 1.06 billion-franc average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

CEO Brady Dougan is eliminating about 4 per cent of the workforce to help the bank save 1 billion francs in annual costs beginning next year, after increasing staff in 2010 to win market share. Earnings at the investment bank tumbled 71 per cent as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and concerns over the global economic outlook increased risk- aversion among clients.

Credit Suisse fell 72 centimes, or 2.5 per cent, to 28.54 francs by 9.26 am in Zurich, bringing the decline this year to 24 per cent.