- Expected in the coming weeks are announcements for the sale of the bank's Italian retail business, its Iberian credit cards operation, and its Egyptian franchise, reports the WSJ.
- The moves are all part of a plan to pare down Barclays' (NYSE:BCS) sprawling business, with CEO Jes Staley having pledged to exit £35B of unwanted assets by the end of next year.
- The lender's ROE was just 4.8% in H1, but Staley and team figure this can hit double digits after the assets are unloaded.
- Many of these sales are likely to force Barclays to book a loss, but this should be more than offset by the freeing up of capital.