Sorry is the hardest word

6 November 2008 By Hugo Dixon

The board, led by Marcus Agius, made two big mistakes. It didn t raise capital expeditiously early in the year. Then it turned its back on a government rescue only to pay through the nose for capital from the Middle East. If it says sorry, it could start to repair the damage.

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Several Barclays shareholders have criticised the bank for diluting their holdings by raising capital that they said it was paying too much for, and expressed concern that Barclays was locked into coupon payments for a decade, according to Reuters reports.

Barclays shares dropped to a 12 year low on November 3, and have lost almost 10% of their value since the bank unveiled its recapitalisation plans on October 31. Barclays' shares were trading at 187p, down 4% in early morning trade on November 6.

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