Barclays’ shareholders to vote on African sell down

On Tuesday, Barclays, which plans to sell down its 62.3 per cent stake in Barclays Africa issued a circular to this effect.

In its circular to shareholders the bank says it is considering both strategic and capital market options for the sell down.

The bank said it is seeking shareholder approval for its plans at a general meeting on April 28.

Barclays requires shareholder approval for the plan because it would result in accounting deconsolidation of the stake in its Africa unit. Following that it will seek a regulatory deconsolidation.

Citigroup, Barclays Investment Bank and J.P. Morgan Cazenove will assist Barclays with its intention to reduce its shareholding in Barclays Africa (BAGL) to enable regulatory deconsolidation.

Barclays also warned investors that its first quarter investment banking performance was likely to be weaker than the same period a year ago, citing challenging market conditions.

In a surprise trading update on Tuesday, the lender also confirmed that its non-core income for the three months to end-March was expected to deteriorate compared to prior quarters, largely due to falls in the value of its Education, Social Housing and Local Authority loan portfolio.

Shares in the bank, which is due to report its first quarter figures on April 27, were trading down 3.1 percent at 145.7 pence at 1401GMT.

Source: CNBC Africa