John McFarlane, who has become executive chairman of Barclays until a successor for former CEO Antony Jenkins is found, said that existing management plans had set shareholder value creation too far out in the future. Barclays shares stand where they did six years ago, and the dividend is flat.
He stated that more branches would close and jobs would go. “Barclays is not efficient,” McFarlane said, while pointing out that the bank needed more “energy and speed of decision-making”. Barclays has, however, revealed in a statement that profits had increased by four per cent in both the retail and corporate bank, to £1.5bn, and by four per cent in Barclaycard to £795m. According to the Telegraph, “statutory pre-tax profits came in at £3.1bn for the first half, up 25 per cent on the same period of 2014. African banking profits rose by 12 per cent to £540m, while investment banking profits soared 36 per cent to £1.4bn.” McFarlane said he was pleased with the investment bank, and indicated there are no plans for a radical shake-up of the unit. Instead, he plans to focus on the debt and equity capital markets businesses – as well as cutting the less profitable and more capital-intensive fixed income companies. McFarlane suggested that European and US investment banking was a “key franchise.” Read more about banks:- OakNorth Bank gains license and aims its proposition firmly at SME lending
- Charlie Mullins: Use bank fines for apprenticeships, startup loans, mentoring and training
- Metro Bank and Zopa aim to further disrupt British banks with new partnership
Share this story