‘Barclays Bank Zambia not closing’

Barclays bank confirms selling off African units

Barclays group has suspended trading at the London Stock Exchange, after shares plunged 11% following a confirmation that the lender will sell its African units. Barclays, which has reported a dip in full year pretax earnings of 7.52 billion dollars, says it will now focus on simplifying its UK & international operations, to boost returns and cut costs. Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley, said the bank will sell its 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd over the next two to three years, to a level that allows it to deconsolidate the business. Barclay’s Africa has some 40,000 staff spread across 12 countries on the continent. Angelo Coppola now reports on the likely implications of the sale.

Barclays Plc has been evaluating its business and specifically, sources suggest, it’s Africa operations. The bank however is tight-lipped ahead of its annual results presentation, on 1 March. But there are several scenarios that could play out.

“The could simply sell part of their 62% stake that they own in Barclays Africa, to 50%. The advantage of that is still own control and they reduce the stake that they have in africa. The alternative is to sell the entire stake of 62% or sell half of that.” said Kokkie Kooyman, Portfolio Manager, Denker Capital

An issue facing the UK-based bank, if it opts to sell its entire stake, is the local regulator.

“They will have to get reserve bank approval and secondly, the reserve bank will have to approve of the buyer. This is very important to understand, in that central banks globally will only want very strong shareholders for their banks.” said Kokkie Kooyman, Portfolio Manager, Denker Capital

And added to that any potential buyers would be keen on Africa as a medium to long term play, taking a view that the commodity cycle will soon end.

“It’s unlikely that a player that comes in, to replace Barclays would try and reduce what they’ve got. They would buy it because like Absa, they like Africa, they like South Africa and so they wouldn’t want to change anything, in fact they would most probably want to improve it and get more joint ventures and joint transactions going together.” said Kokkie Kooyman, Portfolio Manager, Denker Capital

It’s all about appetite and whether the potential buyer takes a longer term view on africa. On the other hand of course Barclays could say, we are holding onto this stake because we believe in the African story.

1 COMMENT

Violet Zulu 01/03/2016 at 13:06

Barclays bank confirms selling off African units

Barclays group has suspended trading at the London Stock Exchange, after shares plunged 11% following a confirmation that the lender will sell its African units. Barclays, which has reported a dip in full year pretax earnings of 7.52 billion dollars, says it will now focus on simplifying its UK & international operations, to boost returns and cut costs. Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley, said the bank will sell its 62 percent stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd over the next two to three years, to a level that allows it to deconsolidate the business. Barclay’s Africa has some 40,000 staff spread across 12 countries on the continent. Angelo Coppola now reports on the likely implications of the sale.

Barclays Plc has been evaluating its business and specifically, sources suggest, it’s Africa operations. The bank however is tight-lipped ahead of its annual results presentation, on 1 March. But there are several scenarios that could play out.

“The could simply sell part of their 62% stake that they own in Barclays Africa, to 50%. The advantage of that is still own control and they reduce the stake that they have in africa. The alternative is to sell the entire stake of 62% or sell half of that.” said Kokkie Kooyman, Portfolio Manager, Denker Capital

An issue facing the UK-based bank, if it opts to sell its entire stake, is the local regulator.

“They will have to get reserve bank approval and secondly, the reserve bank will have to approve of the buyer. This is very important to understand, in that central banks globally will only want very strong shareholders for their banks.” said Kokkie Kooyman, Portfolio Manager, Denker Capital

And added to that any potential buyers would be keen on Africa as a medium to long term play, taking a view that the commodity cycle will soon end.

“It’s unlikely that a player that comes in, to replace Barclays would try and reduce what they’ve got. They would buy it because like Absa, they like Africa, they like South Africa and so they wouldn’t want to change anything, in fact they would most probably want to improve it and get more joint ventures and joint transactions going together.” said Kokkie Kooyman, Portfolio Manager, Denker Capital

It’s all about appetite and whether the potential buyer takes a longer term view on africa. On the other hand of course Barclays could say, we are holding onto this stake because we believe in the African story.