(Bloomberg) -- Berenberg has cut dozens of jobs in London in its second round of redundancies in the British capital this year as the German investment bank struggles with a slump in deal activity.

About 55 people in London were let go on Tuesday across the investment bank, a spokesperson for the firm confirmed in an emailed statement. Financial News reported the cuts earlier.

“Whilst we expect to be more active in 2023, we are realistic about the speed of this recovery,” Managing Partner Dave Mortlock wrote in the statement. “As such, we have moved early to ensure our investment bank is right-sized whilst continuing to deliver top-tier service to our institutional and corporate clients.” 

The cuts are a marked turnaround for the firm, which reported its best ever profit in 2021. They come only days after Berenberg axed around 10 roles in New York that, adding to previous job cuts, halved headcount in the US in just 12 months.

Berenberg started the year with plans to expand its record headcount. Instead, the firm cut 50 jobs in the US in the summer and then eliminated a further 30 investment banking roles in London, or roughly 5% of its total staff in the British capital.  

Staff have also been told that bonuses will be limited and targeted this year because of the much weaker activity in the IPO market, Bloomberg reported last month.

--With assistance from Steven Arons.

(Corrects to remove erroneous location of the investment bank in the fourth paragraph.)

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.