Banking giant Barclays (LON:BARC) is considering off-loading its stake in its African arm Barclays Africa Group Ltd (BAGL).
Barclays said it noted speculation about a potential sale of BAGL following a report in the Financial Times on Friday claiming new chief executive Jes Staley had decided to off-load the business.
The bank said in a statement: "The board continues to evaluate its strategic options in relation to its BAGL shareholding and expects to update the market at the time of its 2015 full-year results announcement on March 1."
Barclays owns 62.3% of BAGL, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The group offers personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.
It was formed by combining Absa Group and Barclays’ African operations at the end of July 2013 and the name changed to BAGL a month later.
BAGL has majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Barclays Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia.
It also has offices in Namibia and Nigeria and insurance operations in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
Barclays Bank Kenya and Barclays Bank Botswana continue to be listed on their respective stock exchanges.
Barclays Bank PLC has operations in Egypt and Zimbabwe which are an integral part of its African business, although BAGL continues to oversee their management.