barclays will ge coming out with trading update on 07.05.2009 It is expected to report profits higher than market expectations.

A good Buy Medium to Long term

(Reuters) - Barclays said it is cooperating with regulators investigating the possible manipulation of currency trading by major banks after reporting profits fell by a quarter following a slump in its investment bank earnings.

Barclays said on Wednesday it was reviewing its foreign exchange trading "covering a several year period" and was cooperating with authorities investigating possible attempts to manipulate certain benchmark currency exchange rates.

It joined UBS and Deutsche Bank, who said on Tuesday they were cooperating with regulators probing alleged rigging in the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market.

The investigation adds to a string of regulatory probes to hinder Barclays boss Antony Jenkins, who took over as chief executive 14 months ago and is trying to rebuild the bank's reputation after a series of scandals.

Barclays reported an underlying pretax profit of 1.4 billion pounds for the three months to the end of September, down from 1.9 billion a year ago but above an average forecast of 1.25 billion from analysts polled by the company.

Profits at its investment bank fell to 463 million pounds, down from 988 million a year ago and below expectations. It was the unit's lowest profit since the end of 2011 and was largely due to a 44 percent slump in revenues in its fixed income, currency and commodities in the latest quarter.

Barclays said its common equity Tier 1 capital ratio under full Basel rules improved to an estimated 9.6 percent including the 5.8 billion pounds it raised in a rights issue last month.

Goldman Sachs Neutral 274.93 263.25 310.00 310.00 Reiterates

Societe Generale Buy 269.38 320.00 320.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 269.38 315.00 315.00 Reiterates

Nomura Buy 269.38 330.00 330.00 Reiterates

Beaufort Securities Hold 269.38 - - Initiates/Starts

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Buy 269.38 325.00 345.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Buy 269.38 325.00 320.00 Retains

Barclays will make 1,700 of its branch staff redundant as it scrambles to boost returns. Five per cent of employees in the 33,600-strong retail network will lose their jobs next year, staff were told last night in a conference call to the 1,577 branches. Barclays said it was making the cuts as fewer customers were visiting branches and more were doing their banking over the internet. The redundancies, which will start as voluntary but will become compulsory if insufficient staff come forward, was criticised by Unite, The Times reports.

Investec note today:
"We regard today’s announcement from the Prudential Regulatory Authority on “key decisions on capital standards” as strongly positive for Barclays relative to fearful market expectations. Ever since publication of CP5/13 on 2 August, and more particularly in the light of RBS’ comments on 1 November, investors have feared a radical departure from the uncharacteristically reassuring statement issued by the PRA on 30 July, which roundly endorsed Barclays’ existing capital plan. This outcome is a victory for common sense.
As discussed in our note, Off the floor but fighting for more!, 27 Nov, Barclays’ optical cheapness, trading on just 0.85x 2014e tNAV, reflects the fact that the near-term investment case had become little more than a capital arbitrage play. For once, an optimistic view has paid off, and, in our view, fears of a further round of capital issuance in 2014 should now all but evaporate.
The devil is in the detail, and we don’t have all the detail yet, but in terms of what we do know, the PRA has agreed that firms may meet all Pillar 2A risks with a mix of 56% Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital and, by implication, up to 44% of CoCos/CCNs. (CP5/13 consulted on 100% CET1). Barclays’ “capital stack” as presented to investors when it successfully raised US$2bn of CoCos 3 weeks ago had not changed (at all) from its capital plan of 30 July.
Similarly, the PRA confirms that it will require firms to meet a 4% Pillar 1 CET1 requirement in 2014, rising to 4.5% in 2015, and the required Pillar 1 Tier 1 capital ratio is 5.5% rising to 6% in 2015. This (appears to) accord precisely with Barclays’ existing capital plan which targets 10.5% CET1 in 2015.
Banks are “expected to meet” 7% CET1 capital and a 3% adjusted leverage ratio from 1 January 2014, but Barclays’ side-agreement on leverage until 30 June 2014 still holds. Expect continuing upward pressure on capital/leverage requirements, but with an orderly transition, there is so much less to fear. Buy recommendation and 300p RoE-g/CoE-g derived TP reaffirmed."

Numis Securities has upgraded its rating for UK banking group Barclays from 'reduce' to 'hold' and hiked its target price from 222p to 274p, saying that investment risks have already partially been priced in.

Analysts Mike Trippitt said that while Barclays awaits announcements from regulators on leverage ratios, its dividend "may well be the release valve for any leverage pressure". However, he said: "Whilst the investment case is muddied by leverage uncertainties, some uncertainty is discounted in recent share price weakness."

sp 264p moving up ahead of final results due 11th February 2004

It would be good to go back 10years with what I know now.

you'ld have been better served going back just 5 years, though some might prefer it if you went back 10 years and stayed there :-)

What goes around comes around!

How about 25 years.

5 years ago was still a better deal if you caught the price at the bottom (about 50p)

I remember when it was 50p only if I wasn't fearful like everyone else and just bought in big all hindsight tho !!

Back in today a bit higher then I liked at 285 but lets see.

Chart wise I think it looking like a steady up trend.

it's prob the best of the big banks to buy into

the market thinks Lloyds atm, results early February will show.

This one was pointed out by Fred last week, now broken out of channel.

Down today but Banks do well (in a so called) recovery. A few resistance points coming up to look out for.

Kamal Ahmed
By Kamal Ahmed

9:30PM GMT 25 Jan 2014

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Barclays is considering ending its £40m-a-year sponsorship of the Premier League after senior figures at the bank said it had “zero value” in the UK.


The bank’s present deal runs until the end of the 2015-16 football season and members of Barclays’ leadership team are concerned that rapid price inflation for sports rights will mean a much higher amount will be demanded by the Premier League for the next three-year deal.


Barclays has been the sponsor of the Premier League since 2001 and agreed to pay £120m in 2012 for the present rights. That was 50pc higher than the previous deal, which cost £82m.


With the battle for television rights between BSkyB and BT driving up costs, Barclays is now concerned that there will be a knock-on effect.


BSkyB’s present Premier League television deal is worth £2.3bn, 40pc more than it paid for its previous agreement. The bank also has to pay additional “activation costs”, such as using social media and television to promote the deal.


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The move is part of a wider review of the bank’s business, which will mean pulling out of “glamour projects” and focusing instead on much higher levels of technology for customers, far fewer staff and fewer branches.

Sources at the bank said that the 140,000 global employees of the bank could fall to 100,000 and the number of branches in the UK will drop from 1,600 to 1,200 over the next six years. Smaller branch-style operations in supermarkets such as Asda will be extended.

“We have some tough decisions to take,” one source said about the loss of staff.

Mobile apps, Skype-style services and “intelligent ATMs” will improve customer service while reducing cost, the bank will argue.

Antony Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays, wants to see the cost-to-income ratio at the bank fall from above 60pc to around 55pc.

Next month, the bank will publish its “goals” document, which will commit the bank to increasing the return on capital employed so it is higher than the cost of capital and maintaining Core Tier 1 capital above 10.5pc.

It will also demand improvements in customer service in its retail, commercial and investment divisions.

Sources at the bank stressed that Mr Jenkins had yet to come to a final decision on the Premier League but it is understood that senior figures on the board, as well as executives, do not believe it provides value for money.

One said that Barclays did not need promotion in the UK as the bank has high street branches around the country and its name is well known.

“We just need to shut up for five years and get on with our job,” the source said.

Sources at the bank said that the Premier League’s sponsorship deal was most useful for promoting the bank in Asia and Africa but Barclays could now explore other ways of getting its name recognised in overseas territories.

Diageo, for example, sponsors SuperSport television coverage in Africa, which broadcasts Premier League football to 200m viewers. It also directly sponsors leading stars, such as Samuel Eto’o, who plays football for Chelsea and the Cameroon national team.

In December, the bank announced it was pulling out of sponsoring Boris Johnson’s bike hire scheme in London as part of a wider review of its commercial relationships. Mr Jenkins is looking at a number of deals drawn up when his predecessor, Bob Diamond, was chief executive.

Barclays said that it would continue with the bike deal until the end of 2015, at a cost of around £25m.

common sense seems to be taking hold at Barclays if this news is to be believed, good for shareholders.

When they started their sponsorship, they launched a new premiership credit card that offered open ended 0% interest on balance transfers.

They hastily withdrew this offer within a couple of months!

I managed to get quite a bit 'transferred' and had an interest free loan for some years.

04-Feb-14 Barclays BARC Citigroup Buy 264.55p - - Reiteration

04-Feb-14 Barclays BARC Nomura Buy 264.55p 330.00p 330.00p Reiteration

04-Feb-14 Barclays BARC Goldman Sachs Neutral 264.55p 300.00p 300.00p Reiteration