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By Sinead Cruise
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Barclays Chairman JohnMcFarlane has pledged to deliver a "clean andprosperous" 2018 to investors, putting a deadline on a vastprogramme of restructuring and asset sales that will seestaffing numbers fall by 50,000.
Speaking at the bank's annual general meeting (AGM) inLondon on Thursday, McFarlane thanked investors for theirpatience while Barclays runs down businesses it no longer seesas capable of generating appropriate returns, against a backdropof rising regulatory costs and poor economic conditions.
Following these disposals, which include the sell-down ofits 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa, McFarlane said the bankexpected group full-time employees to reduce by around 50,000people, resulting in a total headcount of 80,000 - almost halfthe staff employed at its peak.
The cost savings achieved from these cuts and the refocusingof the business would enable the bank to reintroduce a"respectable dividend level" and transform Barclays into a"significantly smaller, safer" bank, McFarlane said.
"For the past few years, we have produced either negligibleretained profits or losses before dividends. Going forward weneed to reverse this and generate superior returns out of ourfranchise," McFarlane said, in his first AGM statement aschairman.
"However it is worth remembering that we are in the processof turning around what was recently the largest bank in theworld by assets," he added.
Chief Executive Jes Staley also took time to explain adecision to sacrifice part of the dividend to fund the revamp,but said the short-term pain was necessary to put Barclays in aposition to grow payouts over time.
"Investing substantially in this company was one of thefirst things I did upon being appointed - and my interests arefirmly aligned with yours," he said.
"However, I believe it is better to move quickly anddecisively to eliminate the drag in this business now than toaccept high levels of attrition on your returns for a muchlonger time than is necessary."
Staley also said the bank was working hard to relieve thepressure on returns from fines for past conduct failings and wasseeking to resolve outstanding issues "as swiftly as possible".
"There will also be no let-up in the critically importantwork to transform Barclays' culture," he said. (Editing by Mark Potter)
