BCS Barclays PLC

By Max Colchester 

LONDON-- Barclays PLC said Thursday that it had agreed to sell its Portuguese and Spanish credit card business to local lender Bancopopular-e, the latest move by the British bank to pare down its European presence.

The British bank said in a statement that it would sell the Barclaycard payments unit, which is made up of GBP1 billion ($1.46 billion) of assets. The deal which is subject to regulatory clearance should be complete by the end of the year. Bancopopular-e is a Spanish online bank 51% owned by Varde Partners and 49% owned by Banco Popular Espanol SA. The sale doesn't impact Barclays's investment banking operations in the country. The deal should cut Barclays's risk-adjusted assets by GBP900 million.

Barclays has been shedding unwanted assets as it tries to free up capital to invest in more profitable parts of its empire. In 2014 Barclays sold its Spanish retail business to Caixabank SA at a loss. Wednesday the bank said it had entered into discussions to sell its French retail business. If that deal goes ahead, Barclays will have largely completed its retreat from continental Europe, Chief Executive Jes Staley said Wednesday.

Separately on Thursday Barclays shareholders voted in favor of allowing executives to shed the bank's stake in its African unit.

Barclays, which owns 62% of Barclays Africa Group, needed to get approval for the disposal to go ahead. Over 97% of shareholders backed the plan.

The bank said this week it had already received a wide array of interest for the unit which it aims to sell down within the next two or three years.

Barclays argues that regulations mean it can't benefit from any upside of owning the unit. During the annual meeting Mr. Staley said shareholders should just buy shares in the separately listed African business. "You will double your profit," he said.

Former Barclays chairman Bob Diamond said earlier this week that he is bringing together a group of investors to bid for the unit. Barclays may instead choose to sell chunks of its stake to asset managers.

Barclays Chairman John McFarlane pleaded with shareholders for time, as his new executive team try to refocus the lender. Mr. McFarlane told shareholders at the bank's annual meeting that "he looked forward, like you, to better times ahead." The bank's shares have dropped 34% in the last year.

Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2016 11:44 ET (15:44 GMT)

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