The Qatari sell-down comes at a bleak time for the global banking sector. Rating agency Moody’s on Monday issued a “negative” outlook for the industry in 2024, warning that losses were likely to rise sharply as high interest rates hit both households and businesses. High unemployment and low consumer confidence could lead to a sharp increase in “problem loans” in the UK, it said.
Lloyds Bank chief executive Charlie Nunn last week warned there was “nervousness” among international investors about backing European banks for fear of windfall taxes on the sector.
Investment bankers at Citi and Bank of America are handling the Barclays share sale, according to Bloomberg which first reported the news.
The stock was being marketed at 141p, a small discount to the 142.98p at which they closed on Monday.
Qatar is likely to remain Barclays’s second largest shareholder even after the sale as passive fund giants Blackrock and Vanguard are the bank’s first and third largest shareholders respectively.
Qatar first invested in the bank at the height of the financial crisis. Desperate to avoid a state bail-out like Lloyds Bank and RBS, Barclays struck a deal that triggered more than a decade of legal and regulatory recriminations.
The Financial Conduct Authority recently fined the bank £50m for “reckless” failures over its disclosure of fees paid to Qatar as part of the deal.
The QIA is also Sainsbury’s top shareholder and owns a string of assets across the UK.
Barclays is unusual in the UK banking sector for running a large US investment bank which competes with Wall Street titans like Goldman Sachs and Citi.
However, recent results show profits at the investment bank and consumer division have slid, while UK deposits have also dropped.
Its net interest margin, which measures its profitability, has also shrunk.
Mr Venkatakrishnan is expected to lay out the details of his restructure at the bank’s full year results in February.
Barclays currently employs 44,000 people in the UK and 43,000 in the rest of the world.
Staff at the bank’s Execution Services unit, which runs back office functions at the bank, are expected to bear the brunt of the cuts.
Barclays declined to comment. QIA was contacted for comment.
