“Since the last quarter of 2020, Banco Montepio has been ensuring the implementation of a set of operational adjustment measures, whose objective is to accelerate the digital transition and adjust the service model, through the adoption of the best market practices, both with regard to customer experience and operational efficiency”, justified the bank in the note in which it reported the results of the first nine months of the year.

According to Montepio, "within the scope of the optimisation of the retail network, between October 2020 and September 2021, 73 branches were closed, of which 36 in the first nine months of 2021", taking into account the geographic coverage, profitability and size of the branches “without prejudice to the adequate coverage of the customer base and without any material impact on the business”, they guaranteed.

With regard to the evolution of the workforce, the Banco Montepio group “had a total of 3,589 employees at the end of the first nine months of 2021, with a decrease of 344 (-8.7 percent), compared to same period of 2020”, reads the same note.

Montepio recorded, in the first nine months of 2021, losses of €14.2 million, a recovery of 75 percent compared to the negative results of €56.8 million obtained in the same period last year.