|
London: British bank Barclays Plc said it is considering raising capital and other options as part of Britain's plan to strengthen balance sheets across the sector.
"Barclays confirms that it is considering a number of options, including capital raising, relating to the industry wide commitment to increase tier 1 capital in the sector by an aggregate £25 billion (Dh167 billion)," the bank said on Friday.
Barclays, Britain's second biggest bank, would boost its capital by offering existing investors the chance to take preference shares or other instruments, reports said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Earlier this year, it raised £4.5 billion, mainly by attracting several big outside investors, rather than through a conventional rights issue. Its biggest shareholders now include Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, state-owned China Development Bank, Singapore's Temasek and Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui.
Barclays needs about £5.5 billion of extra capital, analysts at Bernstein estimate. Deutsche Bank analysts estimated it needs £2.5 billion. Britain is offering up to £25 billion for banks to boost their capital, but said there is no obligation on banks to use the government funds and they can raise capital privately. Capital needs to be boosted by the end of the year.
"Barclays will update the market on its plans in accordance with this time-table," the bank said. By 0930 GMT its shares were down 14 per cent at 208 pence, one of the weakest stocks in a broad European share sell-off.
|
