* Says combination will boost growth opportunities
* Analyst forecasts Africa loan book to grow by 9 pct/year
* Barclays shares up 2.5 percent
LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Barclays is in talks
about combining its African operations with that of
majority-owned subsidiary Absa Group in a move aimed at
accelerating expansion on the continent, the British bank said
on Tuesday.
Barclays and Absa, which is South Africa’s third-largest
bank and its biggest retail lender, had already agreed to
combine strategies in Africa and had set up a joint team of
executives to lead expansion.
“This proposed combination of the businesses will mirror the
managerial and operational structure we have already put in
place. It will provide a platform for further growth,” said
Maria Ramos, chief executive of Absa Group and Barclays Africa.
Barclays said combining the businesses would help increase
growth opportunities in Africa where Absa has been slow to
capitalise on Barclays’ wide presence on the continent, trailing
fast-moving rival Standard Bank.
Absa, in which Barclays holds a 56 percent stake, issued a
profit warning in June, sending its shares into a tailspin and
igniting fears that its recent recovery was losing steam.
“The Africa business is an important long-term growth driver
for the business,” said Oriel Securities analyst Mike Trippitt
who estimates Barclays’ African loan book will grow by an
average 9 percent per annum between 2011 and 2015 compared with
5 percent for the group.
Shares in Barclays were up 2.5 percent to 195.7 pence at
0800 GMT, compared with a 1.1 percent rise in Europe’s bank
index.
The proposal would see Barclays combining its interests in
Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and the Indian
Ocean with Absa, and remaining as the majority shareholder of
the combined African operations.
