Barclays ditches more of its non-core assets in Italy
Barclays has today agreed to sell a portfolio of salary secured loans, worth around £260m, in Italy to IBL Banca.
The final sale is still subject to regulatory approvals but is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2017. The sale will also reduce the bank's non-core risk weighted assets by roughly £170m.
"Last week we announced agreements to sell our Egyptian bank and our UK trust business," said Harry Harrison, head of Barclays non-core. "Today's announcement further highlights the momentum we have in Barclays non-core and the progress we're making."
The bank is currently working to shift many of its non-core assets.
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Although the bank continues to run investment and corporate banking in Italy, it shed its retail banking network in August. Meanwhile, it is planning to run down or exit its residual mortgage portfolio and other non-core loans in the country over time.
Shares in Barclays closed down 1.8 per cent today at 169.36p.
At the lender's half-year results this summer, group chief executive Jes Staley restated his commitment to ditching the company's non-core divisions, which accounted for £1.9bn in losses during the first half of 2016.