LONDON (AFP) – Abu Dhabi’s state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company has sold securities in Barclays worth 1.25 billion pounds, the FT said on Thursday.
Demand for the reserve capital notes — similar to preference shares — was three times the amount on offer when they were sold on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported citing people close to the matter.
Earlier this week, the state-backed IPIC had disposed of 1.3 billion shares in Barclays.
The shares were sold on Tuesday for about five billion pounds, according to Credit Suisse Securities, handing IPIC a gain of 1.5 billion pounds in just seven months.
Last year, Barclays secured a seven-billion-pound capital injection which was largely backed by oil-rich investors from Abu Dhabi and Qatar, as it sought to avoid taking government funds in a bid to survive the credit crunch.
Abu Dhabi’s shock move this week to sell came after Barclays shares had surged by about 50 percent in value since last October.
Meanwhile on Thursday, it emerged that Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings has sold its stake in Barclays at a loss of 500-600 million pounds, according to media reports.
Unnamed officials were quoted by the Straits Times as saying that Temasek had disposed of the shares, estimated at two percent, between December and January. However, the state-linked firm declined to comment.
In morning trade here on Thursday, Barclays’ share price increased 2.79 percent to 267 pence. The FTSE 100 index, on which the bank is listed, rose 0.55 percent to 4,407.55 points.
Asharq Al-Awsat
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