Barclays Sells Portuguese Retail-Banking Business--Update
September 02 2015 - 4:25PM
Dow Jones News
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, or about $113 million, for Barclays'
commercial, private and corporate banking units. The purchase is
Bankinter's second international transaction in its history, as
small Spanish banks increasingly look abroad to counterbalance
sluggish loan demand at home while battling rock-bottom interest
rates.
Barclays isn't completely exiting from Portugal. It said it
would continue to operate its Barclaycard, investment-banking unit
and corporate-banking division that serves multinational companies.
The corporate division that Barclays is selling to Bankinter serves
small and midsize businesses.
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.
The sale is likely to trigger a loss after tax of around GBP200
million, or about $306 million, for the British bank, part of which
will be booked in the third quarter, it said.
"I am pleased to be announcing further reductions in Barclays
noncore through the transactions announced today," Barclays
Executive Chairman John McFarlane said in a statement.
With the sale, Bankinter is acquiring 84 bank branches in
Portugal and 1,000 employees, the Spanish bank said in a regulatory
filing.
A unit jointly owned by Bankinter and Spanish insurer Mapfre SA
is also buying Barclays' life insurance and pension unit for around
EUR75 million.
About a year ago, Barclays sold its Spanish retail banking
division to Spain's Caixabank SA.
Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 02, 2015 16:10 ET (20:10 GMT)
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