5th Apr 2016 15:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Barclays PLC on Tuesday said its investment bank had a tough opening quarter to 2016.
Although investment banking revenue in January and February was "broadly in line" with the same period a year earlier, current market conditions and a "particularly strong" March in 2015 mean that Barclays "does not expect as strong a performance" from the division across the three months as a whole.
Revenue in Barclays' non-core division of unwanted assets that don't generate high enough returns or no longer fit with its strategy is expected to deteriorate further compared to prior quarters, the bank said.
The trading update echoed guidance given by Finance Director Tushar Morzaria on March 1, when Barclays reported annual results for 2015, mainly due to "continued spread widening" on the fair valuation of its education, social housing, and local authority portfolio of loans.
Morzaria had not expected as strong a performance for the whole of the first quarter in the investment bank and said that non-core revenue would probably fall due to the education, social housing, and local authority loans.
On Tuesday, Barclays said it is considering "various options" for the plan to sell down its 62% stake in Johannesburg-listed Barclays Africa Group Ltd. The bank is now asking shareholders to approve "any such transactions" which would result in the de-consolidation of the business from its accounts.
Approval would provide "flexibility to implement capital markets transactions" as part of that process, Barclays said.
Barclays will report first-quarter results on or around April 27.
Shares in Barclays were down 2.3% at 146.85 pence on Tuesday afternoon.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Barclays