Barclays PLC has confirmed it will reduce its stake in Barclays Africa, as part of plans to simplify the group and boost shareholder returns after reporting a two percent fall in full-year profit.
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Barclays has declared a final dividend of 3.5p per share, making 6.5p in total for 2015.
Barclays added that staff bonuses for 2015 would total £1.7bn, down from £1.9 billion the year before, with last year’s figure including £976million within its investment banking business, down from £1bn in 2014.
Barclays Africa Group Ltd. “is a well-diversified business and a high quality franchise”, Staley said in the statement.
Barclays analyst Joseph Dickerson, one of the analysts calling for the bank to cancel dividends over the next two years, welcomed the news.
Ramos said with Barclays Africa’s strong results for 2015 would be a good investment for any possible buyers of the shares from Barclays UK.
The group’s annual report also showed that Mr Staley was awarded £96,000 in role-based pay despite having only taken on the top job on December 1, although this is paid in shares and deferred over a five-year period.
Recently appointed boss Jes Staley hinted in January that investment banking income may fall by 10% to £1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, as he expects its full-year income to be “broadly flat” compared with the prior year.
Barclays on Tuesday revealed a further shake-up of the beleaguered bank, unveiling plans to exit its African operations, as it seeks to restore its battered reputation under new leadership.
The move to cut the dividend led to an 11 per cent dive in Barclays share price, leading to trading being temporarily halted. He previously announced 1 200 job cuts, the exit from seven countries in Asia, a hiring freeze and cutting the bonus pool to trim costs.
Barclays Bank of Kenya managing director Jeremy Awori declined to comment on what he termed market speculation, but noted that Barclays Africa Group is the holding company for the bank in Kenya. Running down non-core business lost £1.46 billion, while expensive Treasury operations and reform costs meant head office lost £402 million in the quarter.
Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) wishes to reiterate that we remain committed to Africa, where we continue to be optimistic about our growth prospects, and to operate in the normal course of business, according to the company official press statement.
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“I feel confident that we will have the best of outcomes for everybody; for now and for the foreseeable future”, said Ramos.
