Barclays PLC AGM 2003

Barclays PLC
24 April 2003

                                     24th April 2003



                             BARCLAYS PLC
                   ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING STATEMENT



Barclays PLC is today holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for shareholders.



Matthew Barrett, Group Chief Executive, will say at today's AGM that he is
pleased to report that Barclays has made a solid start to 2003, and continues to
maintain both strong focus on short term performance and investment in the
future.



The full statements which Sir Peter Middleton, Chairman and Matthew Barrett will
be making this morning, follow below:



Sir Peter Middleton


There are 2 documents, which may be referred to in the meeting:



1.       The Summary Financial Statement, which has been sent to all
         shareholders, and

2.       The full Annual Report, which includes the new Corporate Social
         Responsibility Report.



You will have seen in the Summary Financial Statement that profit before tax was
£3.205 billion.  We will have paid £1.2 billion to shareholders in dividends;
almost £1 billion to the government in taxes; and more than £3.6 billion to our
75,000 employees, in salaries and bonuses.



Earnings per share were 33.7p and return on equity (on a statutory basis) was
15%.  Dividend per share was 18.35p, an increase of 10% over 2001. Though stock
markets have been weak and volatile, our total shareholder return, a combination
of share price performance and reinvested dividends remains in the top quartile
of its peer group of international banks as it has been for the past 3 years.



Financial results are not the whole story.  For the first time this year, we
have included a Corporate Social Responsibility Report as an integral part of
the Annual Report. This demonstrates how seriously we take our Corporate Social
Responsibilities.



Barclays strong commitment to communities continues.  Last year we gave £32
million to the community.  Supported by Barclays, 20,000  of our employees took
part in community activities, making a real difference in their local
communities.  You can read more about this and the progress we are making in
tackling financial inclusion and in improving our environmental performance in
the report.



All round, this was a sound performance in a year of great uncertainty both
politically and economically.



The Annual Report, which fewer shareholders request, gets longer and longer and
much more complicated - particularly Section 3 (the Financial Review and
Results).  I am afraid that this is due to the seemingly endless stream of new
regulations and accounting rules.  And there is more on the way - particularly
for the financial services sector.   Revised capital calculations and
requirements are likely to follow from new standards being developed in Basel -
known as Basel II.  These are likely to coincide with the implementation of new
international accounting standards.  We support initiatives that make our
business more transparent, but the sheer volume of information disclosed under
these new rules will make it increasingly difficult to explain our business in
simple terms to our shareholders and employees.  More importantly, there is a
seemingly unstoppable urge from accounting philosophers to develop measures of
the business which are increasingly short term, creating the appearance of
greater volatility and uncertainty about the future.



Pension provision is a good example. There has been a great deal of press focus
on pensions with the disclosure required under the accounting standard known as
FRS17.  This measures a pension fund on the theoretical assumption that it is
wound up today; with the assets being valued at today's prices, and the
liabilities being discounted at a curious discount rate.  But our pension fund
is not being wound up today.  The key test of the adequacy of a pension fund is
whether, when the liabilities fall due - and they typically fall due over
decades - the assets are sufficient to meet them.  By this test, our assets
exceed our liabilities, and we are committed to making sure that our pension
fund is and remains, in sound financial condition to meet its liabilities when
they fall due.  FRS 17 is certainly a measure, but it is not the only measure.
I want to assure our pensioners that there is no need to worry.



Our people remain our biggest asset.  And I would like to take this opportunity
to thank them for all their hard work.



2002 was a difficult year with a challenging political and economic environment.
  2003 will be no less so. But Barclays is well-placed thanks to the spread of
its business, the quality of its staff and its determination to succeed and
seize the opportunities that will arise.



Matthew W. Barrett



I first want to thank my Barclays colleagues at every level and in all of our
locations around the world, for their considerable contributions to our results
in 2002.



They handled effectively the issues that arose in a difficult external
environment and turned in satisfactory results.



We aspire to outstanding levels of performance and remain committed to
maintaining our Total Shareholder Return in the top quartile as it has been over
the past three years.



We have in place the portfolio, the business strategies and the leadership
talent to do so.



External events in 2002 did not distract us from advancing our strategy in all
areas to build for the future.  I would like to give you a brief update on
progress, focusing first on our core UK franchise and then on our major
international businesses.



The core UK Franchise



Strength in our home market is our number one priority.   We serve UK customers
through four important businesses:  Personal Financial Services, Business
Banking, Barclays Private Clients and Barclaycard.



Competition in the UK is fierce and getting fiercer, and this is a good thing -
for customers and for the banks.  We see significant growth opportunities for us
in the UK.  The key to unlocking these is in new customer propositions.



Our strategy for the UK is based on some simple principles:



•         make it easy for customers to access the full range of services
          wherever, whenever or in whatever way they choose;

•         deliver superior value and convenience that encourages customers to
          give us more of their business;

•         recognise and reward loyal customers.



Let me give you a few recent examples of initiatives to bring these principles
to life.



Personal Financial Services (PFS) provides one of the most extensive,
multi-channel access networks in the UK and this was extended in 2002.



Branch hours were extended to make it easier for time-strapped customers.
Saturday openings were increased in hundreds of locations.  Significant
investments were made in premises improvements to provide a more comfortable and
efficient environment for customers and improved access for the disabled.
Banking by telephone was expanded to facilitate banking from home or office.
Customers using on-line banking increased from 3.3m to 3.9m - 20% of
transactions now being undertaken on-line.



Openplan was launched nationally.



Customer response to these initiatives in PFS was very encouraging.

We attracted hundreds of thousands of new customers and did more business with
existing customers.



We are determined to maintain our commitment to continuous, noticeable
improvements in everything we do for the UK consumer.



Business Banking has over half a million large, medium and small business
customers.  Gratifyingly, it is highly rated by its customers but we are not
complacent and the service was improved to new levels in 2002.



Business Banking targeted services more effectively and created bespoke
propositions for different customer segments.  It too enhanced the range of
delivery channels for customers, offering greater choice and flexibility.



It re-engineered support processes, and freed relationship managers to focus
more time on customers and less on paperwork.  We believe, and more importantly
our customers tell us, that the quality of relationship they get with their
managers in Business Banking is better than anywhere else.



The growth and development of our wealth management business, Barclays Private
Clients (BPC), remains a key strategic priority.   The longest bear market in a
generation has had a brutal effect on the wealth management sector in 2002,
causing many rivals to withdraw.  Not so for us.  We redoubled our efforts to
develop this business for clients.



The strategy is to deliver an integrated proposition across banking and
investment services for financially active clients.  It has increased  the
number of relationship managers qualified in both banking and investment
products.  It has introduced the Legal & General and Woolwich product lines to
its clients, while launching a range of new propositions.  Earlier this year, it
announced the acquisition of the UK retail business of the stockbroker Charles
Schwab.

We are in very good shape to reap the benefits when market conditions improve
and demand for investor services by individuals increases.



In 2002, the development of Barclaycard, already the leading credit card
monoline in the UK and Europe, gathered pace.  Customer numbers and volumes
increased both through organic strategies and through acquisitions.  Barclaycard
was a founding member of Nectar, the innovative loyalty scheme; it entered into
a joint venture with Littlewoods to provide branded card services; it bought the
UK business of Providian; and it made a start on selling other financial
services products under the name Barclaycard Direct.



So it was a busy and productive year on the journey to transform our UK
businesses and do a better job for customers at home.  For customers, accessing
the full power of our fluency in finance must be made easy and rewarding no
matter how they wish to do business with us.  We see that as key to our success.
  So you will see much more joined-up activity and positive changes in the
businesses that constitute our core UK franchise.



Our International businesses



Outside our home market, Barclays is one of the most famous brands in banking, a
powerful calling card around the world.



We have a physical presence in 57 countries and customers in some 200 countries.
We have 500 branches outside the UK.



We are building on these foundations to deepen and broaden our non-UK
businesses.  Let me give you a couple of examples of progress in 2002:



•         In a world in which the full service investment banking model was
proved to be over-built and fraught with problems, our decision to concentrate
the Barclays Capital business on debt-focused activities, incorporating risk
management advisory services, is proving to have been the right one for us.

Last year, it delivered the second highest level of pre-tax profits in its
history in what was an extraordinarily difficult year in the markets.  Barclays
Capital was the only firm among the top 10 in the global all-debt league tables
to increase its issuance volumes.



•         Historically, Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has been a somewhat '
orphaned' member of the group.  We completed a major strategic review of the
business by early 2002, and BGI's performance surged.   Few other firms in its
sector reported earnings in 2002 higher than 2001.  In BGI's case, the increase
in operating profit was 41%.  BGI attracted £56 billion of net new assets in
2002, half from new clients.



•         Barclays Private Clients began offering Openplan in Spain, increasing
its share of new mortgage flows from half a percentage point to 5%, while
attracting thousands of new customers.  It also launched Stockbrokers in France.



•         Barclaycard International, which serves customers in many countries,
including France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Greece, made a profit for the first
time during the last quarter of 2002, one year ahead of plan.



So, in 2002, we made good progress on the international front as well.



Of course the critical factor in any successful business is competent and
committed employees.  As a result, we paid particular attention during the year
to our ongoing efforts to create a high-performance culture and to developing
our workforce.



We made progress on our equality and diversity programme.  We continued to
develop the Barclays University to provide life-long learning opportunities and
increase the employability of our people.





We focused hard on leadership training and on nurturing our top talent.  We
continued to work closely with our union partner UNIFI, which has been a
powerful force behind our efforts to become the employer of choice in all our
activities.



In conclusion, the Barclays transformation continues across the board and is
gathering momentum.  We are nowhere near done yet, and we are all too aware of
the near-term challenges of the current geopolitical and economic environment.



However, thanks to the focus and effort of employees at all levels during the
last three years on driving our strategy forward, we are stronger today and
poised to take advantage of opportunities to deliver sustained growth.



Finally, I am pleased to report that Barclays has made a solid start to 2003,
and continues to maintain both strong focus on short term performance and
investment in the future.



Disclaimer


This document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and section
27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended with respect to certain of the
Group's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future
financial condition and performance.

The Group may also make forward-looking statements in other written materials,
including other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC. In addition, the
Group's senior management may make forward-looking statements orally to
analysts, investors, representatives of the media and others. In particular,
among other statements, certain statements with regard to management objectives,
trends in results of operations and competition are forward looking in nature.
These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not
relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use
words such as 'anticipate,' 'target,' 'expect,' 'estimate,' 'intend,' 'plan,'
'goal,' 'believe,' or other words of similar meaning.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because
they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future.
The Group's actual future results may differ materially from those set out in
the Group's forward-looking statements. There are many factors that could cause
actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by these forward-looking statements. Barclays 2002 Annual Report on Form
20-F available on our website contains a discussion of some of these factors.
Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Group speak only as
of the date they are made. Barclays does not intend to update forward-looking
statements to reflect any changes in the Group's expectations with regard
thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based. The reader should, however, consult any further disclosures
Barclays may make in documents it files with the SEC.





                                      ENDS





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