Barcap continues to expand

Extract from The independent on 25 April by Sean Farrell, Financial Editor
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/barclays-rubbishes-rumours-of-rbsstyle-rights-issue-815502.html

Mr Diamond said market conditions would be challenging this year but that BarCap would outperform the sector. Despite fears of massive City job cuts, he said his London staff count would be about the same or maybe higher by the end of the year.

Extracts from Bloomberg article on 22 April
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aIEPwHE8T0XE&refer=uk
Barclays Hires Archibald Cox Jr. as Americas Chairman (Update2)
By Yalman Onaran

Barclays Plc ... hired Archibald Cox Jr., a Wall Street veteran who ran First Boston Corp. in the 1990s, as chairman of its Americas business.

Cox succeeds Chet Feldberg, 68, who's retiring after serving as chairman of Barclays Americas for eight years.
The appointment of Cox is part of Barclays's plan to increase earnings in the U.S. Diamond ... is increasing securities trading in the U.S. to take share from rivals weakened by credit writedowns. Barclays Capital President Jerry del Missier moved to the U.S. this year, and Diamond is spending more time there to help lift the division's growth.
Cox's experience will help ``at a time of both great challenges and great opportunities,'' Diamond said in the statement.

The No. 1 priority for us is the U.S.,'' Diamond said in February when the bank posted its full-year results. ``There is an opportunity to move into the top three tier,'' he said.

Diamond is pushing commodities, equities and prime brokerage businesses as well as growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa as credit market turmoil holds back its fixed income and lending units.

I'll be involved in developing and executing strategy, mostly in the Americas but also in Europe and Asia as well,'' Cox said in an interview. `The current crisis provides Barclays a great opportunity to grow because it is relatively unscathed so far.''

Does not seem to have liquidity problems

Extracts from FT of 15 Apr 08
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd395978-0b23-11dd-8ccf-0000779fd2ac.html

Barclays ‘wide open’ to new mortgage business
By Jane Croft, Retail Banking Correspondent

Barclays said it was “wide open” for new mortgage business at a time when other lenders were reining back because of the credit squeeze.

Barclays took 9.3 per cent of net new mortgage lending in the second half of 2007 – its highest level for at least three years – compared with 4.5 per cent in the second half of 2006.

Mr Seegers pointed out to investors at a seminar in London that the retail bank was self-funding – and did not have to rely on wholesale markets – and its loans were more than supported by its savings balances.
Deanna Oppenheimer, head of UK retail banking, added that Barclays saw the current market turmoil as an “opportunity”

The bank also attracted strong volumes of savings and new small business banking accounts

Barclays opened 400 branches and sales points in the first quarter of 2008 alone. Last year, it opened 644 branches and sales centres.
In the UAE, Barclays had become the second largest issuer of credit cards within three months of launch and it was becoming the biggest bank in sub-Saharan Africa.

Barclaycard is now targeting in the US, where it acquired Juniper, a card business, in 2004 and where customer loan balances have expanded from $1.6bn in 2005 to $6.5bn (£3.3bn) now. Barclays is now the 11th largest issuer of cards in the US and the second largest in South Africa