John Varley, Barclays chief executive, expressed confidence yesterday that the UK banking group could still triumph in the battle for control of ABN Amro as he argued that he had delivered on his promises to shareholders.
A share price slump in the past week has undermined the value of the Barclays offer for ABN Amro, which is competing with a rival bid from a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium that consists almost entirely of cash.
However, Mr Varley insisted that the bank would persist with its bid, in a contest likely to last until the end of September at least. "The issue is where the share price is when the ABN Amro shareholders come to vote. That is more than two months away," he said. "Am I confident about our ability to win the ABN Amro merger? Yes, I am."
He was speaking as Barclays confirmed that pre-tax profits in the first half had risen 12 per cent to £4.1 billion (€6.1 billion), driven mainly by a strong performance at Barclays Capital, its investment banking arm.
Revenues in the division were up 21 per cent in the first six months of the year, while profits jumped 33 per cent to £1.66 billion. This was in spite of provisions to cover losses from its exposure to two failed hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns, the Wall Street bank. Barclays shares closed up 8.5p at 686p. - ( Financial Times service)
