Thursday share tips: Barclays, Bwin.party

Barclays chairman John Mcfarlane has decided Antony Jenkins's time is up. That is somewhat surprising. Jenkins has successfully begun the slow process of rebuilding the lender's reputation. Nevertheless, at 70% the bank's cost-to-income ratio is still too high. In parallel, its return on equity - even on an adjusted basis - is still too low. Indeed, after the gains made during his first six months on the job the share price has gone nowhere. Like Deutsche Bank, another purported "universal" bank, Barclays is too many things to too many people. A retail and commercial lender for a Brit and an African and investment bank for a New Yorker or a Londoner. Not surprisingly, like its German peer its stock trades at a discount to the rest of the sector on the basis of its price-to-book multiple. Whoever takes over at the helm will have to "find good reasons why Barclays should exist in its current form, or do something about it," writes the FT's Lex column.The offers tabled by GVC Holdings and 888 for rival Bwin.party digital entertainment are broadly similar in terms of the implied valuation - about £900m - and the split between cash and shares. So what Bwin's board must now do is value each suitors' paper and weigh the risks involved in each against the other. For some analysts the potential synergies which would accrue from a combination with GVC could be considerable larger.However, investors in Bwin may be less keen to own part of a company that derives a bigger part of its sales from unregulated jurisdictions. The reverse takeover proposed by GVC would also be more complex. GVC would also need to raise cash to help finance the deal. "GVC appears to have edged ahead, but, whichever wins, Bwin investors tired of the constant disappointments should grab what's on offer with both hands, hold" writes The Times's Tempus.