RBS bank shares gain on jobs cull reports

(MENAFN- AFP) Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland gained on Friday as reports said that the state-rescued lender will announce next week that it is cutting its headcount by tens of thousands.RBS stock climbed 1.15 percent to 359.8 pence on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was up 0.43 percent in early deals.Newspapers said the announcement of a jobs cull, which could total at least 30,000 according to the Financial Times following a shake-up of the lender's investment banking and international divisions, would be made alongside its annual earnings statement due next Thursday.However around 18,500 of these would come from the already announced sale of RBS' US bank Citizens.Other reports said that tens of thousands of posts could go over the next five years.RBS refused to comment on the reports.