A banking-comedy-drama,
- Barclays PLC was the 18th largest company in the world according to Forbes 2007 Global 2000 rankings. In the 2008 ranking it had fallen to 25th. (Forbes, obviously)
- “In respect of current trading, Barclays Group profit before tax in May was well ahead of the monthly run rate for 2007.” (Barclays)
- “Global Retail and Commercial Banking continued to deliver strong growth in profits and in Investment Banking and Investment Management profits were in line.” (Barclays)
- Barclays is seeking to raise as much as £4bn ($8bn) from outside investors as it seeks to shore up its balance sheet without having to launch a rights issue that could lead to aggressive writedowns. (FT)
- “Barclays notes recent speculation regarding the possible issuance of new equity by Barclays by way of a placing and pre-emptive offer to existing shareholders. The Board of Barclays confirms this is currently under active consideration.” (Barclays)
- Barclays shares yield almost 11 per cent. (Reuters)
- “Unlike every other bank in the UK, BARC was the only bank to report falling writedowns in Q1 relative to last year.” (Pali International)
- “We expect that shareholders will welcome this structure as it avoids the drawn out timetable of a rights issue and ends the corrosive speculation about an equity issue that, in our view, has caused the share price to underperform its peers in recent months.” (Cazenove)
- Consensus forecasts for Barclays have been falling
- “This says little of use other than meaning there is no new profit warning which is good news in itself, we feel.” (Collins Stewart)
- “In the past few weeks Mr Diamond is thought to have looked at both America’s Lehman Brothers, which has traded as low as 60pc of its book value, and UBS, whose shares have also plummeted following its £18bn of write-downs.” (Telegraph, May 24)
- “For management, the potential problem would be how to change position without looking silly. One option would be to try to tap its big shareholders such as China Development Bank. Given current valuations, another might be to buy another bank, perhaps raising more money than Barclays needs to do so.” (Lex, May 24)
- “Those of you who follow these things closely will have seen how active we have been in managing our capital base over the last months, including of course the issuance of equity to China Development Bank and Temasek last summer. We will remain active managers both of our balance sheet, and of our capital ratios.” (John Varley delilvering April’s AGM address)
- “Talks with sovereign wealth funds about a strategic investment are believed to be proving more difficult than expected – fed up as they are with being seen as a slush fund for distressed banks.” (Telegraph)
- “It is thought that at least six potential investors are in talks with Barclays and it is likely that three of these interested parties will be selected. The first opportunity is being offered to the China Development Bank and Temasek, a Singaporean government investor.” (The Times)
- CDC and Temasek first bought into Barclays at 720p last July
- Barclays subsequently launched a buyback, repurchasing at least £1.7bn of stock at around 600p. (FT Alphaville)
- Shares in Barclays climbed 9 per cent to 346p on Monday. (Reuters)
- At their recent lows, shares in Barclays had fallen 63 per cent from their peak in February last year.
- The meaning of the word truth extends from honesty, good faith, and sincerity in general, to agreement with fact or reality in particular. False is the antonym of the adjective true. (Wikipedia)