LONDON
Barclays saw its shares plunge Tuesday after the bank revealed plans to split itself into two, simplify its operations and cut its dividend amid weaker earnings.
The bank said its fourth quarter adjusted pretax profit, which includes one-off items like provisions to pay for mis-selling policies in the U.K., fell by more than a half to 247 million pounds ($344 million) from the year before.
The London-based firm’s restructuring plan is part of new rules to separate riskier investment banking from retail banking. Such ring-fencing is meant to keep people’s savings secure in the event of another financial crash.
The bank said it would pay a lower dividend this year and next year, leading shares to fall nearly 11 percent to 153.30 pence.
The bank also announced plans to sell down its stake in its African operations over the next three years to a non-controlling position. Barclays Africa Group Ltd. is now 62 percent owned by Barclays and has 12 million customers across 12 countries.
New CEO Jes Staley says Barclays PLC “is fundamentally on the right path, and is, at its core, a very good business.”
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