Barclay’s to Sell the Entirety of its Italian Loan Portfolio; Refocusing On U.K., U.S. Business

Nothing to raise an eyebrow at here. The trustworthy lads at Barclay’s are merely “testing the appetite” of the market, by disposing of its ENTIRE portfolio of performing and non-performing assets.

They will be out of the Italian retail business within 1-2 years, probably sooner.

“Barclays is starting the disposal of its portfolio of performing and non-performing loans, the last step of the bank’s exit plan from the Italian retail business,” country chief Alessandra Perrazzelli said in an interview in Cernobbio, Italy on Friday. “We are selling the complete portfolio of loans and we aim at closing the disposal of the whole portfolio in one or two years, depending on market conditions. We are now testing investors’ appetite.”

Barclays is refocusing on the lender’s most profitable units in the U.K. and U.S. and selling consumer operations in continental Europe that it doesn’t consider central to its business. Britain’s second-largest bank sold its operations in Portugal to Spain’s Bankinter SA in September, while Mediobanca SpA agreed to absorb Barclays’s consumer-banking operations in Italy in December.

“Barclays has been working to simplify its business and to concentrate on those businesses where it can make sustainable returns and compete with the big American players,” said Perrazzelli. “This process is also involving Italy, where our investment and corporate banking businesses perform very well.”

First Portugal and now Italy. Perhaps the Barclay’s folks are being prescient by withdrawing from the weaker EU countries while the bids are strong.