Hot Features
Premium
Trade like a pro: Leverage real-time discussions and market-moving ideas to outperform.
Bank axes 3,700 following the announcement of fall in pre-tax profits.
UK banking giant Barclays has announced it is axing 3,700 jobs following the announcement its pre-tax profits fell to £246m in 2012.
The job losses were announced as part of a strategic review published the bank, which had achieved pre-tax profits of £5.9bn in 2011, that aims to reduce operating costs by £1.7bn.
After the announcement Barclays’ stock rose quickly on the London market, gaining 6.3%, +19.00 points, during morning trading to 320.50.
Commenting on the banks’ current difficulties Barclays’ chief executive, Anthony Jenkins, said that “Barclays is changing. We intend to change what Barclays does and how we do it and have set out clear commitments against which our progress can be measured”
In a statement Mr Jenkins argued that the job losses, almost half of which will come from Barclay’s investment banking operation, form part of plan to make them the “Go-To” bank for stakeholders and are “critical to delivering that goal”.
Acknowledging that the bank needed to repair its public image Mr Jenkins, who previously stated he was going to waive his bonus, stated in December last year that they had to “Change the way we do business if we are going to regain the trust of our various stakeholders and begin to restore our reputation. The process will take time, but we are committed to transforming Barclays”.
Setting out Barclay’s plans Mr Jenkins said that the strategic review was “built on a rigorous review of 75 distinct business units to determine not only their ability to generate an appropriate and sustainable return on equity, but also their strategic attractiveness, including their impact on Barclays reputation. We expect to make good progress towards our financial commitments by 2014 and deliver them fully during 2015.
We have today set out a new course for the future of Barclays. I am extremely proud of the way our 140,000 staff have overcome the difficulties of the last year and shown the resilience necessary to deliver the results we announced this morning. It gives me great confidence in our ability to deliver our goal and from today I am determined that no-one should be able to question our intent or our commitment to the path that I have set out.”
