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 The British bank said on Tuesday it planned to sell its 62 percent
stake in Barclays Africa Group over the next two to three years,
ending its presence on the continent after more than a century and
becoming a "transatlantic" bank focused on the United States and
Britain.
It would then concentrate on two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays
Corporate and International, to comply with ring-fencing regulations
aimed at safeguarding its retail banking business from riskier
operations.
Barclays is "fundamentally on the right path," Staley said in his
first results announcement since taking over one of the most
prominent roles in British business in December.
Adjusted pretax profit fell to 5.4 billion pounds ($7.5 billion) for
the year to Dec. 31 from 5.5 billion a year earlier, below an
average forecast of 5.8 billion.
The bank said it was cutting its dividend to 3 pence per share from
2016 from 6.5p in 2015, a move Staley said would help Barclays
maintain capital levels while it disposes of unwanted assets. Its
shares fell as much as 10.5 percent.
Staley told reporters he was comfortable with the bank's capital
position, dismissing some concerns that Barclays might need a cash
call to bring its common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a key measure
of financial strength, closer in line with rivals.
SWEEPING CUTS
The bank's CET1 stood at 11.4 percent, from 10.3 percent a year
earlier, while its leverage ratio improved to 4.5 percent.
"While we believe that the cut in dividend will be taken negatively
initially, it will help to allay fears of capital weakness,"
analysts at Haitong Research wrote.
In the few months since Staley's appointment, Barclays has made
sweeping cuts across its investment bank and exited several
businesses including in Asia, aiming to trim costs, reduce risk and
shore up its balance sheet.
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However, legacy issues continue to hurt the bank, with 4.01 billion
pounds of provisions made against an array of regulatory missteps,
compared with 2.36 billion a year earlier.
Barclays made an additional provision in the fourth quarter of 1.45
billion pounds for mis-selling loan insurance, more than doubling
its total for the year to 2.77 billion. It has set aside 7.42
billion in total to compensate customers.
It also said it is cooperating with the U.S. department of Justice
and the SEC on an investigation into its hiring practices in Asia,
becoming the latest bank to disclose involvement in the wide-ranging
probe.
Barclays said it will pay ousted CEO Antony Jenkins 3.4 million
pounds for 2015, including a pro-rata bonus of 505,000 pounds. Its
total bonus pool shrank 10 percent to 1.67 billion.
($1 = 0.7179 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Sinead Cruise and
David Holmes)
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