FBD chief executive Fiona Muldoon has told shareholders office closures cannot be ruled out as the insurer strives to return to profitability.
In answer to a question at the company’s egm to ratify the sale of its interest in a property and leisure joint venture for €48.5 million, Ms Muldoon said there could be no “sacred cows” as FBD seeks to turn around its financial performance. This could include the closure of some of its 32 offices although no such move was currently envisaged, she said.
In August, FBD reported a loss for the first half of this year of €96.4 million and announced a series of cost-saving measures. Some 100 voluntary redundancies form part of that cost-saving plan, with staff set to discover soon if their applications have been accepted. Staff are being offered four weeks pay per year of service along with statutory redundancy up to a cap of 2½ years.
These redundancies are due to save the company about €7 million a year with the packages costing the company between €7 million and €9 million.
Ms Muldoon, who was appointed chief executive earlier this month, indicated to shareholders FBD would return to being profitable in the fourth quarter of 2016. However, it is set to make a loss for the year as a whole.
She said the insurance industry here was being carefully watched by its regulator, the Central Bank of Ireland due to the financial difficulties being experienced by a number of large players.
