London: Barclays, the UK's third-biggest bank, will invest as much as £1 billion (Dh5.53 billion) during the next four years to expand its British and European consumer banking operations.
The programme will be mostly directed at the bank's units in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Antony Jenkins, head of global retail banking, said in a conference call with journalists yesterday. The bank will seek a "top five" presence in its markets, he said.
‘Depth not breadth'
"The strategy for the Barclays group has been to deliver increasing profit from outside the UK and that has been the strategy for a number of years," Jenkins said. "What we are emphasising more in this strategy is depth, not breadth and that is one of the key objectives that we have for the business."
Chief Executive Officer John Varley in February said Barclays would reduce its reliance on investment banking so that Barclays Capital would generate a third of profit, with the rest coming from divisions including retail banking "over time." Barclays Capital contributed about half of pretax profit last year, lifted by its acquisition of Lehman Brothers Holdings' North American operations in 2008.
Varley also said the company's international expansion in retail banking had been "too aggressive." In May, Varley said the bank has an "absolute" commitment to its controlling stake in South Africa's Absa Group.
