Barclays Weighing Bid For Natwest'

Barclays Bank Plc is considering plans to make a bid for British rival National Westminster Bank Plc, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.

The paper quoted what it called a Barclays insider as having said: "The NatWest price is low, its management discredited, its shareholders worried and it is in a highly vulnerable position. The timing (for a bid) is ideal."

Last week, NatWest, whose market capitalisation is around 12.8 billion stg against Barclays 17.7 billion stg, issued a profits warning. It said the 90 million stg loss on interest rate options at its investment banking arm, NatWest Markets, which was revealed in February, had taken a toll on the group's business as a whole and would mean a significant drop in profits in the first half of 1997.

 

NatWest also announced the departure of NatWest Markets chief executive Martin Owen and a review of its activities. NatWest group chief executive Derek Wanless has taken the helm at NatWest Markets until a replacement for Owen is found.

Separately, the Sunday Times newspaper said Owen might receive a "golden handshake" of more than two million stg, comprised of cash, share options and pension entitlements.

The Sunday Telegraph also said Bank of Scotland, with a market capitalisation of 4.5 billion stg, was looking at ways of "reversing into NatWest". Last month, NatWest had talks, which came to nothing, with Abbey National Plc about a possible merger.