Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news) is in talks with potential buyers of its retail operations in Italy and Portugal as part of an asset disposal programme which the bank’s next chief executive will be under pressure to accelerate following this week’s ousting of Antony Jenkins.
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Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 11.87 points, or 0.2 percent at 6,444.08 by 0753 GMT, after posting its lowest close since mid-January in the previous session.
At Aviva McFarlane played a central role in the removal of Chief Executive Andrew Moss, stepping in to take over the day-to-day running of the business after delivering a damning assessment of Moss’s five years in charge.
Warning signs were evident when McFarlane highlighted the poor performance of Barclays shares in a letter to shareholders after joining the bank in April. In comparison, British rival Lloyds (LLOY.L), which only has a small investment banking business, is trading at 1.3 times.
McFarlane will need to quickly address some major challenges including a requirement for the bank to separate its United Kingdom retail business from riskier activities to meet new regulations. He said, “What we need is profit improvement”.
“While a period of uncertainty until a successor is found would usually be a negative, the positive share price reaction suggests optimism that the replacement can better satisfy the board on the financial performance and strategic change front”, said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets. “He got rid of the guy who was questioning this”, said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The bank said Jenkins would be temporarily replaced by its chairman, John McFarlane.
He also emphasized the importance of the investment bank in Barclays’ strategy, seeming to rule out any chance of Barclays exiting it altogether.
Mr McFarlane said it was important to make “the right decision, not a quick one”.
Morzaria has struck up a strong relationship with McFarlane, according to industry sources.
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McFarlane, who began his career with the Ford Motor Company, was chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for ten years until June 2007 and has also held senior positions at Standard Chartered and Citibank.
