Barclays announces share issue
|
Barclays has issued £4.5 billion of shares to shore up its finances.
The banking giant lost more than £2.5 billion as a result of the subprime crisis in America and the credit crunch.
Almost 1.6 million shares will be issued, with Japanese banking group Qatar Investment Authority investing £1.8 billion, Challenger buying £533 million of shares and Sumitomo MitsuiBanking spending a further £500 million.
Challenger represents the interests of Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, the chairman of Qatar Holding, and his family.
John Varley, Group Chief Executive of Barclays, said: 'Through our capital raising, we strengthen our capital base and give ourselves additional resources to pursue our strategy of growth through earnings diversification.'
Barclays announced group profit before tax in May was well ahead of the monthly run rate for 2007 and it intends to continue paying dividends in cash.
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
