Barclays to slash jobs after suffering 'reputational damage'

London, Feb 12 (AFP) Barclays will cut at least 3,700 jobs this year and slash costs, the scandal-hit bank announced today as it also revealed that it had plunged into an annual net loss amid the Libor rate-rigging crisis. The British bank said in a statement that it would "reduce headcount by at least 3,700 across the group, including 1,800 in the Corporate & Investment Bank and 1,900 in Europe Retail and Business Banking." Barclays employs 140,000 staff. The bank reported a loss after tax of 1.04 billion pounds for 2012 compared with a net profit of 3.0 billion pounds in 2011 -- news brushed aside by the market as Barclays' share price soared today. "There is no doubt that 2012 was a difficult year for Barclays and the entire banking sector," said chief executive Antony Jenkins, who was brought in to shake up the bank in the wake of the Libor scandal that has rocked other lenders. "The behaviours which made headlines during the year stemmed from a period of 20 years in banking in which the sector became too aggressive, too focused on the short-term, and too disconnected from the needs of customers and clients, and wider society," he said. "Barclays was not immune from the impact of these trends, and we suffered reputational damage in 2012 as a consequence. Change is needed both in our industry and at Barclays," Jenkins added in a statement. Jenkins ordered a strategic review after replacing Bob Diamond as chief executive five months ago and after the bank was fined USD 450 million by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates. As well as deciding to scrap thousands of jobs, Jenkins today said that he would slash the bank's costs by 1.7 billion pounds in 2015. Barclays said that as a result of the job cuts, it would incur a restructuring charge of close to 500 million pounds in the first quarter of 2013. (AFP) NKB KUN 02121754 NNNN