Bob Diamond's legacy in numbers

Duncan Kerr

July 03, 2012

The shock resignation of Bob Diamond as group chief executive of Barclays has brought a swift and abrupt end to an 16-year rollercoaster career at the bank, in which he played a commanding role in orchestrating its remarkable evolution.

From when he joined the UK bank in 1996 to resigning as group CEO today (Tuesday), Diamond has been at the very centre of driving the transformation of Barclays from a UK retail and commercial bank into what is a full-scale global banking powerhouse.

On every measure (including internal culture), Barclays is almost unrecognizable as a banking institution from what it was 16 years ago and its evolution has almost moved in lockstep with Diamond’s ascendance, culminating in him securing the top job in 2011.

Indeed, the figures below throw into sharp relief the challenges for the next CEO, who, as we have reported, faces the task of restructuring the group.

Shareholders have long-argued that management have focused too strongly on investment banking in recent years – a supposedly value-destructive endeavour given stubbornly high compensation costs, the structural increase in the cost of capital and the need for a plan to reduce risk-weighted assets. Barclays is now trading at an estimated 0.4 times to net asset value with a 9% return on tangible equity in the 2013 fiscal year.

Diamond was a phenomenal architect of the investment banking project but his successor must balance the demands of shareholders, who are calling for the investment bank to be delevered, and those who argue it is in a structurally strong position to capture more FICC revenues from rivals.

Here, Euromoney highlights some of the key numbers that illustrate Barclays rise over the years during Diamond's tenure at the institution:

	1996	2000	2004	2008	2011
Diamond’s position:	Head of global markets (BZW)	CEO Barclays Capital	CEO Barclays Capital	President Barclays, CEO corporate & investment banking, wealth management	Group CEO Barclays
Group return on equity:	22%	25%	19.2%	16.5%	7%
Group net interest income:	£3.94 billion	£5.16 billion	£6.84 billion	£11.5 billion	£12.2 billion
Group profit before tax:	£2.31 billion	£3.5 billion	£4.6 billion	£6.8 billion	£6 billion
Group total assets:	£186 billion	£316 billion	£522 billion	£2 trillion	£1.5 trillion
Barclays Capital profit before tax:	£201 million	£403 million	£1.04 billion	£1.3 billion	£3 billion
Barclays Capital total income:	£782 million	£1.5 billion	£3.4 billion	£5.23 billion	£10.3 billion
Barclays Capital total costs:	£569 million	£996 million	£2.24 billion	-	-
All international bonds league table ranking:	13th (Dealogic)				2nd (Dealogic)
Barclays Capital return on equity:				20%	10.4%
Barclays Capital cost income ratio:				72%	71%

1996

Diamond’s position: head of global markets (BZW) Group return on equity: 22% Group net interest income: £3.94 billion Group profit before tax: £2.31 billion Group total assets: £186 billion Barclays Capital profit before tax: £201 million Barclays Capital total income: £782 million Barclays Capital total costs: £569 million All international bonds league table ranking: 13th (Dealogic)

2000

Diamond’s position: CEO Barclays Capital Group return on equity: 25% Group net interest income: £5.16 billion Group profit before tax: £3.5 billion Group total assets: £316 billion Barclays Capital profit before tax: £403 million Barclays Capital total income: £1.5 billion Barclays Capital total costs: £996 million

2004

Diamond’s position: CEO Barclays Capital Group return on equity: 19.2% Group net interest income: £6.84 billion Group profit before tax: £4.6 billion Group total assets: £522 billion Barclays Capital profit before tax: £1.04 billion Barclays Capital total income: £3.4 billion Barclays Capital total costs: £2.24 billion

2008

Diamond’s position: President of Barclays and CEO of corporate & investment banking and wealth management Group return on equity: 16.5% Group net interest income: £11.5 billion Group profit before tax: £6.8 billion Group total assets: £2 trillion Barclays Capital profit before tax: £1.3 billion Barclays Capital total income: £5.23 billion Barclays Capital total costs: - Barclays Capital return on equity: 20% Barclays Capital cost income ratio: 72%

2011

Diamond’s position: Group CEO Barclays Group return on equity: 7% Group net interest income: £12.2 billion Group profit before tax: £6 billion Group total assets: £1.5 trillion Barclays Capital profit before tax: £3 billion Barclays Capital total income: £10.3 billion Barclays Capital total costs: - Return on equity: 10.4% Cost income ratio: 71% All international bonds league table ranking: 2nd (Dealogic)