PwC agrees to bring forward Barclays 2008 results
Bank to publish annual results earlier than expected to reassure investors over its financial health
Barclays has said it will publish its 2008 results earlier than expected
after reaching an agreement with its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The high street bank’s chairman Marcus Agius and chief executive John Varley
made the announcement in an open letter to customers and shareholders.
The letter is a response to mounting speculation that Barclays will be forced
to raise fresh capital amid mounting writedowns of assets.
Barclays shares have lost more than two thirds of their value over the past
two weeks as the banking crisis has intensified in parallel with the economic
slowdown.
Barclays said it expected to report a 2008 pretax profit of more than £5.3bn,
which would include the impact of £8bn pounds in gross writedowns.
‘Our starting point is that Barclays has £36bn of committed equity capital
and reserves; we are well funded, and we are profitable,’ the letter said.
‘However, we know that our stakeholders want to see the detailed figures for
2008 as quickly as possible. To enable that, we will bring forward the release
of our 2008 financial results, as agreed by our auditors, to Monday, 9
February.’