(Corrects typographical error in first paragraph, adds description of EFG)
* Improvement in May, June after challenging start to 2009
* Will cut jobs, costs
* Lukas Ruflin to become deputy CEO
* Shares down 4.1 percent
(Adds shares, analyst comment)
ZURICH, June 29 (Reuters) - Private bank EFG International said on Monday its first-half results would be weak despite encouraging business momentum in May and June and said it would cut jobs as it looked to reduce costs.
The first four months of 2009 were challenging but net new asset flows and profitability improved in May and June. First-half results, due July 28, would be weak overall, the bank said.
Shares in EFG pared falls of up to 5 percent to trade down 4.1 percent at 11.75 francs per share by 0744 GMT, against a broadly flat Swiss midcap index.
"(The) market doesn't expect nice figures at all in the banking sector for the first half 2009, but the wording of EFG's warning sounds very negative to us. We expect some pressure today on the share price," analysts at Julius Baer said in a note.
The bank said in a statement it planned "cost-saving measures (which) include salary reductions, renegotiation of supplier contracts, reduction of infrastructure and other operating costs, reviews of subcritical locations and job reductions".
EFG said its business was fundamentally healthy and growth prospects were intact, adding it had retained key staff and clients, while assets under management had also increased.
The bank also said Lukas Ruflin would return to the executive committee as deputy chief executive officer, replacing Jim Lee, who will take over the group's asset management business.
(Reporting by Katie Reid; editing by David Cowell and Erica Billingham)