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Barclays staff are braced for thousands of job losses as part of a far-reaching strategic review designed to cut costs and revitalise its struggling investment bank. Britain’s third biggest bank is expected to announce the job losses, which could amount to as many 15,000, alongside a radical restructuring focused on its investment banking operations. Antony Jenkins, the bank's chief executive, is expected to announce the closure of business areas that were once among the best performing in the bank, including commodities, emerging market fixed income and parts of its operations in continental Europe and Asia. The 300-year-old bank, which operates in 50 countries and employs 140,000 staff, is expected to announce the creation of a new “bad bank” that will oversee the sell-off of the non-core assets. Even so, some analysts have argued that the overhaul won’t be enough to achieve the bank’s profitability targets. In a note on Wednesday, analysts at Citigroup said Barclays may have to delay its target of an 11.5pc return on equity by a year until 2017.

LONDON— Barclays PLC on Tuesday said it will cut up to 12,000 jobs this year as it reshapes its operations and grapples with a major slowdown in its investment bank. The bank, which has been selling loan portfolios and pulling out of European retail banking, posted a widened net loss of £642 million ($1.05 billion) for the fourth quarter, from £589 million in the last three months of 2012. Underlying profit for the full year fell to £5.17 billion from £7.60 billion, reflecting £1.2 billion in restructuring costs and lower revenue across the group. Barclays's investment-banking unit, usually its main profit generator, posted a rare quarterly operating loss of £329 million on higher expenses and declining fixed-income revenue. Fixed-income trading across the industry dried up last year as clients sat out uncertain markets. Despite the unit's stuttering performance, pay rose for many of Barclays's 26,200 investment-banking staff, with the unit's bonus pool up 13%. Restructuring costs hit other parts of Barclays, too, with the U.K. retail bank suffering a 40% fall in operating profit in the fourth quarter as jobs were cut and the bank started opening outlets in supermarkets. Losses widened in Europe, where the bank laid off 1,600 staff and shut 500 branches. Barclays's credit-card business also saw a slump in operating profit from adverse currency effects and rising expenses. Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins said the bank will continue to crack down on costs wherever possible and is taking "bold decisions" to reposition its business. He laid out a restructuring program a year ago to exit unprofitable businesses and shave £1.7 billion from the bank's annual cost base. So far, the program has cost Barclays £1.2 billion, including technology investments aimed at moving more customers online and out of branches. This year, the bank will reduce its 139,600-strong workforce by up to 9%. Around 7,000 of the job cuts will be in Britain, with the rest spread across its global operations. Some of the cuts will be at the highest level, Mr. Jenkins said, with 220 managing directors facing the ax. Barclays's decision to increase staff bonuses for 2013 despite lower revenue and profit prompted a backlash. "It cannot be right in any business for the executive bonus pool to be nearly three times bigger than the total dividend pay out to the company's owners," said Roger Barker, director of corporate governance at the Institution of Directors. "In 2013, the bank paid out £859 million in dividends compared to a staff bonus pool of £2.38 billion. The question must be asked—for whom is this institution being run?" Mr. Jenkins said the decision to increase the bonus pool from last year "is entirely appropriate for the long-term interests of our shareholders and I believe it to be consistent with our values to make sure Barclays is a sustainable enterprise." Analysts said the fourth-quarter and full-year figures largely met their expectations, following earlier guidance from the bank on how the numbers would stack up. Analysts at Espirito Santo said Barclays is doing a good job at improving its leverage ratio, a measure of equity to total assets, with around £140 billion in assets taken off the balance sheet since June and another net £60 billion reduction flagged by the bank Tuesday for completion next year. Some analysts were concerned, however, that toughened capital rules in the U.K. and Europe mean it will take longer than expected for the bank to start paying out higher dividends. The bank's shares fell 4%.

Singapore Telecommunications Limited Page 1 of 1 Company registration number: 199201624D News Release SingTel wins exclusive rights to the Barclays Premier League Singapore, 1 October 2009 -- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) today announced that it has won the bid for the rights to the Barclays Premier League matches for three years commencing August 2010. These include rights for mio TV, as well as the Internet and mobile.

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