LONDON - The British lender Barclays said on Tuesday that it would cut up to 12,000 jobs over the course of 2014 as part of its continued restructuring, and it reported a loss in the fourth quarter.
The bank, which is cutting about 7,000 jobs in Britain, is looking to cut as much as 1.7 billion pounds in annual costs by 2015.
In the fourth quarter, Barclays posted a loss of £514 million, or about $845 million, compared with a loss of £364 million in the same period a year earlier. The decline was driven in part by higher restructuring costs, an increased levy by the British government related to riskier financing and a £331 million charge for litigation and regulation penalties.
On an adjusted pretax basis, the bank reported a profit of £191 million for the three months to Dec. 31, down from £1.4 billion in the period a year earlier.
Driven in part by higher operating costs and a decline in its fixed income business, the investment bank recorded a loss of £329 million in the fourth quarter on a pretax basis, down from a profit of £760 million in the prior-year period. The quarter included £87 million in restructuring costs.
Pretax profit in the retail banking business in Britain came in at £212 million, down from a profit of £275 million in the fourth quarter a year earlier. The quarter included £119 million in restructuring costs.
“2013 has been a year of considerable change for Barclays. I am pleased with the progress we made in starting to rebuild trust, defining and implementing a common culture, repositioning the business for the future, and strengthening our balance sheet,†said Antony Jenkins, the Barclays chief executive. “Despite challenging conditions, our underlying performance has been resilient and momentum is building.â€
For the full year, Barclays reported profit of £3.2 billion, down from £5.4 billion in 2012. On an adjusted pretax basis, the lender reported a profit of £5.2 billion in 2013, below analysts expectations of £5.4 billion â€" and confirming figures the company released on Monday in advance of earnings.
The full-year results included £1.2 billion in restructuring charges.
Barclays said that claims for payment protection insurance, a product that has cost British banks billions of pounds in redress, have declined since the monthly peak in May 2012, but at a slower pace than previously expected.
The lender has set aside £3.95 billion for those claims since 2011. As of Dec. 31, £2.98 billion had been used for those claims.
The bank increased its pool for bonuses and other incentives to £2.4 billion in 2013, up from £2.2 billion the previous year. Barclays noted that its bonus pool remained £1.1 billion lower than 2010.
In the investment bank, bonuses and other incentives increased 13 percent to £1.6 billion.
“At Barclays we believe in paying for performance and paying competitively,†Mr. Jenkins said. “Ensuring that we have the right people in the right roles serving our customers and clients effectively in a highly competitive global environment is vital to our ability to generate sustainable shareholder returns.â€
For the second year in a row since taking the helm of the bank, Mr. Jenkins declined to take a bonus himself.
On Sunday, Barclays announced that it was investigating the possible theft of personal data of at least 2,000 customers. The bank said the breach appeared to be limited to customers of its financial planning business, which closed in 2011. British regulators also are reviewing the matter.
“We believe it to be the product of criminal activity,†Mr. Jenkins said on a conference call with journalists on Tuesday.
The bank said its core Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of a bank’s ability to weather financial disturbances, rose to 13.2 percent by the end of 2013, up from 10.8 percent in 2012.
Barclays shares fell 2 percent to 269.4 pence in trading in London on Tuesday morning.
