Barclays Plans to Cut 12K Jobs as Investment Bank Struggles

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) disclosed on Tuesday a wider fourth-quarter loss of more than $1 billion, prompting the British bank to plot another 12,000 job cuts.

Shares of the London-based lender slumped more than 4% amid the latest struggles.

Barclays said it lost 642 million pounds ($1.05 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of 589 million pounds in the year-earlier period.

Barclays said its fixed-income, commodities and currencies segment suffered a 16% drop in income during the fourth quarter amid uncertainty generated by tapering plans by the Federal Reserve.

To combat the troubles in the investment bank, Barclays said it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs this year, including 7,000 in the U.K.

However, Barclays also announced it increased its incentive pool by 210 million pounds in  2013. CEO Antony Jenkins defended the move by saying it was made “to protect and build our franchise in the long-term interests of shareholders.”

“We begin 2014 in a healthier position than we have been for many years,” Jenkins said during  the conference call. “We have started to put many of our legacy issues behind us, and have greater certainty on what the future holds, particularly in terms of regulation.”

U.S.-listed shares of Barclays fell 4.28% to $17.43 Tuesday morning, leaving them down  7.5% over the past 12 months.