Ulster Bank to close 39 branches as hundreds of jobs cut 2 July 2013 Last updated at 19:06 The Ulster Bank, which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has announced it is to shed hundreds of jobs with the closure of 39 rural branches across Ireland. This is in addition to 950 job losses announced by the bank in January 2012. The plans could potentially see up to 1,800 jobs lost, almost a third of its workforce. Ulster Bank said the move was part of its plans to return the loss-making bank to profit by 2016. The bank has so far not given a breakdown of where these closures will occur. Ulster Bank said the branches will close by the end of 2014 and in future the bank will concentrate more on urban areas and internet banking. "We believe that, taking account the 950 reductions announced in early 2012, the remaining decrease in headcount should be met through natural attrition over the remaining course of the strategic plan," a spokesperson said. We continue to keep our costs under review. In January this year the bank announced it was closing 22 branches and sub-offices on both sides of the border. At the time, the bank said there would be no additional job losses as a result of that announcement. Earlier this year, the bank announced it had made losses of more than £1bn in 2012. The cutbacks are an attempt to move into profitability within three years. BBC Northern Ireland business correspondent, Julian O'Neill, said news of the cuts came in a presentation to banking analysts and investors, and caught staff unawares. Ulster Bank currently has 214 branches across the island of Ireland - 135 in the Republic of Ireland and 79 in Northern Ireland. Cavalier approach It employs 6,000 staff. Irish finance union, the Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA), said the branch cuts were a "bolt from the blue" and criticised Ulster Bank for what it called its "cavalier" approach to staff and customers. IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said: "While everyone is aware that Ulster Bank's parent, RBS, is in some disarray at the moment and its commitment to its Irish operation has been the subject of much speculation recently, I sometimes wonder if the senior management in Ulster Bank are deliberately trying to sabotage the bank's future by their cavalier approach to their customers and staff." In June, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne raised the possibility of splitting the Ulster Bank into 'good and bad banks'. He has ordered a review into breaking up the bank's parent body, the RBS. It will particularly focus on assets in Ulster Bank and UK commercial real estate. The review will report later in the year and will be conducted by the Treasury with external professional support.