Barclays PLC BCS apparently made its first round of job cuts under the direction of the new chairman John McFarlane. The British bank is said to have slashed 150 jobs from the investment banking business as part of its plan to speed up the cost-cutting initiative undertaken by former Chief Executive Antony Jenkins.
Senior employees such as the London-based global head of asset allocation research and a managing director for interest rate sales in New York were among those who were shown the door, as reported by Bloomberg. The job trimmings were made in the improving investment banking business as the company intends to downsize the weak areas of its core business.
Burdened with litigations and subsequent settlements, Barclays has been persistently underperforming, which has triggered concerns among shareholders. The company has been striving hard to mitigate macroeconomic pressure and stringent regulations through restructuring.
Last year, the company had announced its intention to slash a total of 19,000 jobs, including 7,000 investment banking jobs, by 2016. Though Barclays’ pressurized growth and ambiguity regarding its future performance led to the end of Jenkins’ three-year tenure with the company, his cost-cutting initiatives further expedited by McFarlane have started to pay off.
In its latest earnings results, Barclays reported improvement in the bottom line, which was mainly driven by cost-curtailment measures as well as improvement in the Investment Banking segment.
With the help of faster layoffs, the company looks forward to more cost savings and improved returns, especially in its fixed-income operations. Also, the company looks ahead to enhance its focus on debt and equity capital markets businesses. Nevertheless, a boost in revenues and capital performance are required for a long-term sustainable improvement in the company’s performance.
Currently, Barclays carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked foreign banks worth considering include Banco Macro S.A. BMA, Royal Bank of Canada RY and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. SMFG. All these stocks hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment