Barclays has new spring in step, says Maria Ramos
Energy and excitement has replaced the ennui at Barclays Africa after Barclays plc’s sale of its majority stake in the group, says CE Maria Ramos. The sell-down "puts us in a position [to] make our own choices", an upbeat Ramos said on Friday, delivering the group’s maiden results since Barclays plc sold its 33.7% stake. "For the first time in nearly nine years, I have one boss," she said, referring to board chairwoman Wendy Lucas-Bull. For the six months to June, Barclays Africa grew normalised headline earnings 7% on the previous comparable period to R7.7bn. Revenue was flat, but earnings were buoyed by a drastic improvement in bad-debt losses, on better credit performances in its business and corporate and investment banks. Earnings in its South African retail and business bank fell 9%, to R4.2bn, due to weak growth in its transactional and deposit franchise. Most of Barclays Africa’s earnings came from retail and business in SA. This had disappointed in the past 18 months, said ...
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