Activist investor Edward Bramson’s Sherborne Investors takes five per cent stake in Barclays sending share price higher
Shares in Barclays rose this morning after activist investor Edward Bramson’s firm Sherborne confirmed it had taken a five per cent stake in the bank.
Barclays share price was up more than four per cent in morning trading on the news.
Bramson has been an investor for a while, but his stake has now topped the five per cent mark where it has to be disclosed.
In a statement today, Sherborne said: “Funds managed by Sherborne Investors, including the partnership, have acquired in the aggregate 5.2 per cent of the voting rights of Barclays.”
Read more: Barclays shares surge despite missing profit expectations
As of 16 March, the company has invested £580m of its capital in Barclays shares and derivatives.
Back in 2015, Bramson had focused his attention Electra, pushing to be added to the company’s board.
This latest move puts the spotlight firmly on Barclays’ restructuring efforts.
Last month, Barclays said it would restore its full dividend this year, with chief executive Jes Staley promising to target growth in the group’s investment banking arm.
He called 2017 a year of “considerable strategic progress” for the bank.
“The sell down of our shareholding in Barclays Africa, closure of our non-core unit, the establishment of our service company, and the creation of our UK ringfenced bank, mean that, in terms of size and structure, we are now the diversified transatlantic consumer and wholesale bank we set out in our strategy in March 2016,” Staley said.
The bank’s boss acknowledged there were still a number of legacy conduct issues to address, but he was confident in the capacity of the business to generate “excess capital” going forward.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Barclays had given senior executives £22.2m in shares, despite undershooting profit expectations and posting a £1.9bn loss in 2017.
The value of the share package was significantly inflated by awards to several senior executives who missed out on payments at JP Morgan Chase when they were hired by Barclays.
Read more: Barclays hands more than £20m in shares to senior executives