Firering Strategic Minerals: From explorer to producer. Watch the video here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksBarclays Share News (BARC)

Share Price Information for Barclays (BARC)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 204.75
Bid: 204.70
Ask: 204.75
Change: -3.30 (-1.59%)
Spread: 0.05 (0.024%)
Open: 208.05
High: 208.90
Low: 202.90
Prev. Close: 208.05
BARC Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

Simplify, shrink, motivate, the mission for Europe's new bank bosses

Thu, 09th Jul 2015 16:16

* Barclays 4th big European bank to change CEO this year

* Shares rally each time, adding $8 bln to market values

* Credit Suisse up 8 pct, StanChart and Deutsche also rose

* New CEOs to cut costs, simplify and maybe raise cash

* Barclays needed "someone to motivate" staff -chairman

By Steve Slater and Sinead Cruise

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - Barclays has joinedthree other European banks in ousting its chief executive, atop-level clear out that has raised expectations of big changesat the banks and triggered an $8 billion jump in their marketvalue.

Barclays and others banks have struggled to revive theirfortunes and provide attractive returns for investors after thefinancial crisis because of tougher regulations and high costs.

Barclays Chairman John McFarlane said the new CEO, who hasnot yet been chosen, needs to cut the bank's assets moreaggressively and accelerate an increase in shareholder value. Hehas ruled out the need to raise capital.

The new leadership at Standard Chartered, CreditSuisse and Deutsche Bank could speed upthat slow pace of change since the crisis.

European banks have taken longer to recover than rivalselsewhere. The return on equity of European banks averaged lessthan 9 percent last year, compared to about 15 percent in NorthAmerica.

New CEOs Tidjane Thiam at Credit Suisse, Bill Winters atStandard Chartered and John Cryan at Deutsche Bank could tapexisting shareholders for cash to improve capital strength andprovide growth options, bankers and analysts said.

But they will only succeed if they simultaneously offer aconvincing revival plan.

"If you want investors to focus on your operationalperformance rather than your cash position, the obvious thing todo is to take whatever action necessary to put that cashposition beyond doubt or criticism," Guy de Blonay, fund managerat Jupiter Asset Management, said.

"A cash call should be received relatively well if thestrategy makes sense, and if there's a new leader at the helm,who can articulate clearly what is best for the company."

The new CEOs are meeting investors, regulators and staff toreview the businesses they have inherited and are expected tounveil plans between October and the end of the year.

EXPECTATIONS HIGH

The favourite to take over at Barclays is the bank's financedirector Tushar Morzaria, 46, who joined from JPMorgan two years ago, although the bank said it will look at externalcandidates.

McFarlane said the new Barclays boss needed to be able to"motivate the organisation."

There are expectations that Winters, Thiam and Cryan, all intheir early 50s, can balance hard pruning with more coherentgrowth plans.

Cryan faces the toughest task. He inherits a bank with oneof the lowest valuations in the global industry, partly due toworries about its over-reliance on investment banking andlow-return German retail banking.

The former investment banker spent years advising banks onstrategy before becoming finance director at UBS in2008, when he helped negotiate its rescue by the Swissgovernment. He has told staff to expect tough reforms asDeutsche is too complex.

He is expected to make cuts but also try to maintainDeutsche's position as Europe's leading investment bank. AfterDeutsche raised $11 billion in June 2014 Cryan is likely to putoff raising cash again to next year, investors and bankers said.

"The priority now will be fine-tuning the strategy,concentrating on cost cuts and disposing of non core units in amore systematic fashion," Filippo Alloatti, senior creditanalyst at Hermes Investment Management, said.

Winters also has a lot of work to do. The former co-CEO ofJPMorgan's investment bank was one of five members of aBritish government commission set up to make banks safer.

He is expected to cut the number of countries StandardChartered operates in, speed up decision-making and ramp upexisting cost-cutting plans.

His plans could include setting aside more money for loanlosses, which could be accompanied by raising $5 billion or morefrom a rights issue and cutting the dividend, bankers andanalysts said.

Thiam, former boss of Prudential, could raisebetween 6-12 billion Swiss francs ($6.3-$12.7 billion) toimprove capital ratios and amass firepower for growth, thebankers and analysts said.

Thiam is expected to slim down the investment bank and weedout weaker areas, while expanding wealth and asset management inAsia.

"The CEO has a reputation for asset gathering ... and youcould see him sell a capital raising story on the idea ofturning CS into something more than just a bank but an assetmanager as well," Alloatti said.

NEW BOSSES WARN STAFF: "BEHAVE"

Barclays' new boss is almost certain to follow Thiam,Winters and Cryan in another major challenge: addressingcompliance and standards, after problems with authorities in theUnited States and elsewhere.

In messages to staff on their first days, the CEOs pledgedto uphold standards and hold staff accountable for anywrongdoing.

Shares in Barclays, Credit Suisse and particularly StandardChartered and Deutsche Bank have lagged rivals in the past 18months, partly due to hefty fines for misconduct.

But on the days when CEO changes were announced, CreditSuisse shares rose 8 percent, Standard Chartered 5 percent,Deutsche 4 percent and Barclays 2 percent, adding a combined$7.9 billion to their market values.

Matching the expectations reflected in the share price jumpcould be the CEOs' biggest challenge. Thiam said two years agoexpectations can leave a CEO feeling like they are walking atightrope.

"If you really believe in what it is you are trying toachieve it helps you go through a journey and walk withoutlooking down," Thiam said.

($1 = 0.9480 Swiss francs)

($1 = 0.6496 pounds) (Additional reporting by Josh Franklin in Zurich and KathrinJones and Thomas Atkins in Frankfurt. Editing by Jane Merriman)

More News
20 Feb 2024 07:47

LONDON BRIEFING: Barclays announces GBP1b buyback as 2023 profit falls

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called lower on Tuesday, following a US holiday, and a mixed performance in Asian markets.

Read more
20 Feb 2024 07:01

Barclays unveils massive overhaul as profits fall 6%

(Sharecast News) - Barclays Bank unveiled a swathe of changes on Tuesday, including a structural overhaul of operations, £2bn in cost cuts and a massive increase in shareholder payouts as annual earnings fell by 6%.

Read more
19 Feb 2024 16:10

Tuesday preview: China rate decision, Barclays in focus

(Sharecast News) - Investors' focus on Tuesday will be on the People's Bank of China's interest rate decision overnight.

Read more
18 Feb 2024 23:26

Sunday newspaper round-up: Currys, Barclays, Homebuilders

(Sharecast News) - China's JD.com has been looking at a possible acquisition offer for Currys. Just the day before the electricals retailer had rebuffed an approach by private equity. Exploratory talks between Currys and JD had been held over the preceding weeks. Additional bidders may appear. It was understood that Currys had been contacted by multiple private equity firms on an informal basis over recent months after it was forced to cut its dividend payout. It was but the latest example of a British business being taken out and for some showed that British businesses were being chronically undervalued. - Sunday Telegraph

Read more
16 Feb 2024 12:07

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Stocks up as UK retail sales soften GDP jitters

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were up strongly at midday on Friday, buoyed by UK retail sales data that came in far better than expected and soothed worries about the economy after numbers on Thursday showed it entered recession last year.

Read more
16 Feb 2024 08:41

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks climb amid UK retail sales surprise

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Friday morning, after a sentiment-boosting UK retail sales reading which calmed some nerves about the economy.

Read more
15 Feb 2024 11:59

REPEAT: Barclays bids to buy SocGen's UK private bank - Reuters

(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC is considering bidding to buy the UK private bank of France's Societe Generale SA, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Read more
15 Feb 2024 10:37

PRESS: Barclays bids to buy SogGen's UK private bank - Reuters

(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC is considering bidding to buy the UK private bank of France's Societe Generale SA, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Read more
15 Feb 2024 07:24

Barclays eyes SocGen's UK private bank - report

(Sharecast News) - Barclays is considering bidding for Societe Generale's UK private bank, it was reported on Thursday.

Read more
13 Feb 2024 14:34

UK earnings, trading statements calendar - next 7 days

Wednesday 14 February 
Coca-Cola HBC AGFull Year Results
Dunelm PLCHalf Year Results
Pan African Resources PLCHalf Year Results
Severn Trent PLCTrading Statement
United Utilities Group PLCTrading Statement
Thursday 15 February 
Benchmark Holdings PLCQ1 Results
Centrica PLCFull Year Results
MJ Gleeson PLCHalf Year Results
Relx PLCFull Year Results
South32 LtdHalf Year Results
Friday 16 February 
NatWest Group PLCFull Year Results
Segro PLCFull Year Results
TBC Bank Group PLCFull Year Results
Monday 19 February 
Bank of Cyprus Holdings PLCFull Year Results
MoneySupermarket.com PLCFull Year Results
Transense Technologies PLCHalf Year Results
Wilmington PLCHalf Year Results
Tuesday 20 February 
Barclays PLCFull Year Results
BHP Group LtdHalf Year Results
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLCFull Year Results
Gran Tierra Energy IncFull Year Results
InterContinental Hotels Group PLCFull Year Results
Petra Diamonds LtdHalf Year Results
Springfield Properties PLCHalf Year Results
  
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
  
A full 21-day events calendar is provided each day with a subscription to Alliance News UK Professional.
  
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Read more
9 Feb 2024 17:02

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: FTSE 100 falls at end of tepid week

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London closed lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100's losing streak extending to three days, as sentiment in Europe remains tetchy despite a largely stellar start to the day in New York.

Read more
9 Feb 2024 15:15

London close: Stocks turn sour in afternoon trading

(Sharecast News) - London's markets turned lower on Friday afternoon, concluding a volatile week on a negative note.

Read more
9 Feb 2024 12:46

Barclays pledges to stop directly financing new oil and gas projects

(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC has promised to stop directly financing energy clients' new oil and gas projects as part of updates to its climate change strategy.

Read more
9 Feb 2024 11:44

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: European markets quiet heading into afternoon

(Alliance News) - European stock markets were quiet heading into Friday afternoon, as investors eye the annual US consumer price index benchmarks revisions.

Read more
9 Feb 2024 08:49

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Tesco bank sold to Barclays for GBP600 million

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London lacked direction on Friday, after Barclays announced plans to buy the retail banking business of Tesco Bank.

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.