Barclays Plc shares fell as much as 4.5% after Qatar’s wealth fund, a longstanding shareholder, revealed it is offloading almost half of its stake in the lender.
The drop is more than the 1.4% discount to Monday’s close that was the expected price for the Qatar Investment Authority’s block sale. The disposal is a surprise move that comes as the bank’s executives ready a strategic overhaul for early next year.
“The timing is slightly odd and it’s hardly a ringing endorsement ahead of the investor update,” said Adam Terelak, an analyst at Mediobanca.
Barclays’s shares had fallen by about a tenth this year through Monday, underperforming many of its peers, as executives work on ways to boost returns including potential job cuts. In the UK, the tailwind from higher interest rates is slowing while Barclays’ traders and investment bankers have struggled to keep pace with US rivals.
No comments:
Post a Comment