* Says measure is to combat inefficiency
* Cuts will reduce workforce by 5 percent
PRAGUE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Erste Bank's Czech unit Ceska Sporitelna will cut up to 550 jobs in the first quarter under an efficiency programme, the Czech bank said on Tuesday.
Sporitelna is the Czech Republic's biggest bank by assets. The cuts will reduce its workforce by about 5 percent.
"The aim of the measure ... is to eliminate those positions that have proven to be insufficiently efficient over the long term or redundant," the bank said.
Czech banks have survived the economic crisis with no big losses, retaining strong capital adequacy and profitability. Sporitelna reported net profit of 8.5 billion crowns ($457.5 million) for the first nine months of 2010.
($1=18.58 Czech Crown)
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; editing by David Hulmes)