BCS Barclays PLC

By Jeannette Neumann 

MADRID-- Barclays PLC has sold its Portuguese retail banking business to Spain's Bankinter SA, as the British bank scales back its presence in less profitable markets.

Bankinter, Spain's No. 7 bank by market value, said it would pay around EUR100 million ($112 million) for Barclays's commercial, private and corporate banking units. The purchase is Bankinter's second international operation in its history, as small Spanish banks increasingly look abroad to counterbalance sluggish loan demand at home while also battling rock-bottom interest rates.

Bankinter is acquiring 84 bank branches in Portugal and 1,000 employees, the Spanish bank said in a regulatory filing.

Last September, Barclays sold its Spanish retail banking division to Spain's Caixabank SA. The sales are part of a global retrenchment by the British bank as it seeks to shed less profitable units in its vast banking business.

A unit jointly owned by Bankinter and Spanish insurer Mapfre SA is also buying Barclays's life insurance and pension unit for around EUR75 million, Bankinter said.

Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 02, 2015 15:33 ET (19:33 GMT)

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