Barclays holds open possibility of a rights issue - papers 25 April

Marcus Agius, the bank’s chairman, refused to rule out a cash call but told investors at its annual meeting that Barclays had other options open to it. Barclays, Britain’s third-biggest bank, has been fighting off speculation of a rights issue since Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) broke the ice with a £12 billion capital raising to prop up its balance sheet earlier this week. However, Mr Agius said that Barclays could boost its Tier 1 capital, a core measure of financial strength, by retaining earnings – paying out a smaller dividend – managing its balance sheet or raising new equity. He s...