Wells Fargo to Eliminate 1,200 More Jobs

Wells Fargo & Co., which has slashed 12,600 jobs since merging with First Interstate Bancorp, said it plans to get rid of 1,200 more employees in an expansion of its cost-cutting campaign. San Francisco-based Wells disclosed in documents filed with banking regulators that it expects to have about 32,000 full-time positions by the fourth quarter, down from 33,216 as of June 30. Wells, if it attains that goal, will have reduced its payroll by 13,800, or 28%, since the two banks were combined in April 1996. In announcing their hostile takeover bid for Los Angeles-based First Interstate, Wells executives originally spoke of eliminating 7,000 positions by the end of 1996. That figure was raised to 7,200 by last April. “They told us last month they were on target to make their cost-reduction goals, but their problems are on the revenue side,” said Raphael Soifer, a Brown Bros. Harriman & Co. analyst. Soifer said Wells still expects to meet its goal of reducing expenses by $800 million. There was no immediate statement from Wells. Wells’ stock fell $2.31 to close at $262.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.