British bank Barclays said on Tuesday that it planned to cut its stake in its African business and focus its strategy around two divisions: its British consumer bank and its corporate and investment bank.
The strategy shift signals the latest change under James E. Staley, who joined the bank in December as its new chief executive, and came as Barclays reported a net loss for the year of 394 million pounds, or about $547 million, in 2015. That compares with a loss of £174 million in 2014.
It emerged in January that the bank planned to scale back its business in Asia, reduce its physical presence in several countries and cut as many as 1,200 jobs in its investment bank as it focused on Britain and the United States. The bank had announced in May 2014 plans to cut as many as 19,000 jobs by the end of this year.
The African business was considered one of four pillars of Barclays’ continuing strategy, alongside its credit card and its consumer and investment banking operations, under Antony Jenkins, who was ousted as chief executive in July.
But on Tuesday, Barclays said that it planned to sell down its 62.3 percent interest in Barclays Africa Group over the next two to three years, reducing it to a level that would allow the bank to remove “it from an accounting and regulatory perspective.”
“At the heart of Barclays strategy is to build on our strength as a trans-Atlantic consumer, corporate and investment bank anchored in the two financial centers of the world, London and New York,” Mr. Staley said in a news release on Tuesday.
“We continue to optimize our geographic footprint as we pursue improved returns, while strengthening our capital ratios still further,” he added.
In deciding to cut its stake in Barclays Africa Group, the lender cited several challenges to continuing to own the business, including regulatory and capital requirements as well as the reach of a British tax, known as a bank levy.
The levy taxes banks based in Britain on their worldwide balance sheet, but international competitors are taxed only on their businesses in Britain.
News media speculation that Barclays might exit its African operations caused Barclays Africa Group to put out its own statement on Monday, saying that it remained “committed to Africa.”
The African business is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and holds majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. It also has offices in Namibia and Nigeria and insurance operations in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
Barclays also said on Tuesday that it planned to accelerate its rundown of businesses and product lines it considers noncore.
Over the next two years, the bank said that it planned to exit its Egypt and Zimbabwe businesses, which are not owned by Barclays Africa Group, close its card businesses in Southern Europe and exit its Asian wealth business.
Mr. Staley, who is known as Jes, spent more than 30 years at JPMorgan, serving as the top executive in its investment banking and asset management units.
Since joining Barclays, Mr. Staley has announced plans to bring two JPMorgan veterans in to join its management team this year, and he said that Thomas King, the American in charge of its investment banking business, would retire this month.
Barclays, like many of its British competitors, is preparing to wall off its British retail-banking business from its riskier investment banking operations in a process known as ring-fencing. British banks are required to do so by 2019.
The bank also said that it had set aside an additional £1.45 billion in provisions in the fourth quarter to compensate customers who were improperly sold payment protection insurance.
The insurance product was sold to customers taking out mortgages, applying for credit cards or seeking other loans. It has cost British banks billions of dollars, as they were ordered to compensate customers who filed complaints.