Summary: Barclays PLC

Good asset quality relative to U.K. peers over an extended period. Leading market positions in U.K. banking and global wholesale banking. Significant diversity of business lines and customer segments. Lack of a medium-term track record of stable management and consistent strategy. Level of attributable profit lacks predictability. Scope to improve relative efficiency. The stable outlook reflects our view that Barclays' statutory earnings performance will steadily improve, and that its asset quality metrics will remain resilient over our two-year outlook horizon. We could consider lowering the ratings if we saw Barclays' earnings recovery falter, if our confidence in the predictability of its management and strategy waned, or if we believed its capitalization no longer fully captured emerging asset quality and other

...The stable outlook reflects our view that Barclays' statutory earnings performance will steadily improve, and that its asset quality metrics will remain resilient over our two-year outlook horizon. We could consider lowering the ratings if we saw Barclays' earnings recovery falter, if our confidence in the predictability of its management and strategy waned, or if we believed its capitalization no longer fully captured emerging asset quality and other risks relative to other large global banks. An upgrade appears unlikely in the near term while Barclays builds statutory earnings to be more in line with other large global banks. If our assessment of its capital and earnings strengthens more than we currently assume, and we remain confident that asset quality and other risks will be relatively contained, then we could raise the unsupported group credit profile (UGCP) and therefore the ratings....

Summary