Barclays to sell Portuguese businesses to Bankinter

3rd Sep 2015 07:55

(ShareCast News) - Barclays Bank has agreed to sell its retail banking, wealth and investment management businesses and part of its corporate banking business in Portugal which serves small and medium-sized enterprises to Bankinter.It has also agreed to sell its insurance business in Portugal to Bankinter Seguros de Vida, S.A. Seguros y Reaseguros, which operates an insurance joint-venture with Mapfre. The bank will continue to operate Barclaycard, investment banking and multinational corporate banking in Portugal.Barclays currently estimates that the transaction will result in a pro forma decrease in risk-weighted assets of around £1.7bn on completion, along with a loss after tax of approximately £200m, part of which will be booked in the third quarter of 2015.On completion, it is expected that around 1,000 Barclays banking and insurance employees and 84 branches will transfer to Bankinter and Bankinter Vida. Completion is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to occur in the first quarter of next year.Chairman John McFarlane said: "I am pleased to be announcing further reductions in Barclays non-core through the transactions announced today. We remain on track to rebalance Barclays as part of our strategy to deliver sustainable returns for our shareholders."