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 The British lender plans 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.
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 on Tuesday before recovering
slightly to be down 9 percent by 1530 GMT.
"We are acutely aware of our shareholders being tired of the time it
has taken to restructure Barclays," 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.
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.
"There is no need for a rights issue," Staley told reporters.
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.
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Staley said it will take two to three years to sell the bank's
majority shareholding of Barclays Africa Group and it could keep a
minority part of the stake beyond that deadline. A lack of obvious
suitors and dimmed economic growth prospects in Africa could make
the sale difficult.
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.
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.
(Additional reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Sinead Cruise and
David Holmes)
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