Barclays share price: Investor Forum writes to bank

Influential City body has written to Barclays (LON:BARC) to outline concerns ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) this week, Sky News has revealed. The lender is facing pressure from activist investor Edward Bramson who is pushing for a board seat.

Barclays’ share price has inched higher in London this morning, having gained 0.51 percent to 161.66p as of 08:01 BST. The shares are marginally outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.06 percent higher at 7,433.21 points.

Investor forum writes to Barclays

Sky News reported yesterday that that the Investor Forum had been asked by major institutional investors to engage with Barclays’ board on a series of key questions which will define its future. City sources told the newswire this weekend that the Forum, which is run by Andy Griffiths and chaired by Simon Fraser (himself a former Barclays director), had written to the lender to raise a number of concerns in recent weeks.

The news comes as Barclays prepares for a stormy AGM this week, with Bramson, whose Sherborne Investors vehicle owns just over five percent of the lender, pushing for a board seat. An influential shareholder advisory group meanwhile has recommended that investors vote down the lender’s remuneration report, arguing that it was ‘not considered warranted’ given that US authorities had hit the bank with a $15-million fine over a whistleblowing scandal related to its chief executive Jes Staley.

The AGM is on Thursday and will follow Barclays’ first-quarter results which revealed a drop in profits.

Analysts on blue-chip lender

JPMorgan Chase & Co, which rates the blue-chip lender as a ‘buy,’ set a target on the Barclays share price of 220p on Friday. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating and an average price target of 220.36p.