Barclays Asset & Sales Finance is on the expansion trail,
with the launch of an Indian business in recent weeks and plans to
start trading in Russia by the end of the year.
A move by Barclays’ asset finance into Russia will follow the
parent bank’s acquisition, in March, of Expobank, the Russian bank
that is in the process of being integrated into Barclays’ emerging
markets business.
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Last month, BA&SF signed one of its first deals in
India, although the division already has call centres in India,
with 300 staff processing lease and asset-based lending deals. The
business has around 1,300 staff worldwide.
BA&SF recently started writing deals in Italy and has plans
to launch businesses in Portugal and Spain, said Ian Stuart,
managing director of the business.
The bank has asset finance and asset-based lending capability in
many countries in Africa, and, worldwide, its policy is for each
country to have its own profit and loss centre. In South Africa,
BA&SF is helping to develop the established asset finance
business of ABSA, the bank recently acquired by Barclays.
Also growing is its asset-based lending capability, as witnessed
by the completion, last month, of a £280m receivables
joint-financing deal with distribution specialist Palmer and Harvey
(Holdings) Plc.At least two other large sales-finance deals are
expected to be announced shortly.
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By GlobalDataSales finance represents around 35 per cent of the business’
turnover and the rest is spread among Iveco Finance, BA&SF’s
joint venture partner, and asset finance. However, sales finance
provides half of BA&SF’s profits. John Bevan has recently been
promoted to head of its sales finance arm.
The reduction in the size BA&SF’s portfolio, as a result of
Barclays’ sale of its vendor finance arm to CIT in 2006, has been
fully recouped, Stuart said.
