British mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester is to cut 500 jobs. The group said today that the cuts will come through voluntary redundancies.
The group, which employs 9,000 staff, says it will reduce numbers at its Leicester head office by around 130.
Alliance & Leicester has also lowered its targets for how much it expects to boost revenue.
It expects to boost revenue by 3 per cent in the second half and by 4 per cent in 2002. The mortgage bank had previously said it expected to increase revenue by 6 per cent a year until 2003.
Alliance & Leicester says it will achieve its cost-reduction target for this year and that it is "comfortable" with analysts' forecasts of profit performance for the year.
The company's first-half net income fell by 21 per cent to £149.1 million sterling as it boosted spending to help achieve its restructuring targets.
A company statement said: "We have revised our strategic priorities, which we regard as a prudent step in the light of increased uncertainty about the future state of the UK economy".
PA