Barclays, HBOS share slumps hurt cash call demand

By Steve Slater

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and HBOS Plc will complete multi-billion pound fundraisings this week, but a slump in bank stocks is likely to deter existing investors from taking up their rights in the offers.

Both banks are guaranteed the cash to rebuild their stretched balance sheets, but discounts offered when the fundraising plans were unveiled have been wiped out during a torrid time for bank stocks.

Further losses on Wednesday left HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) shares trading 8 percent below their rights price and Barclays shares 7 percent under the price of a "clawback" offer, cutting the chance of a big take-up for either.

Barclays last month said it had raised 4.5 billion pounds ($9 billion) from "anchor" investors in Qatar, Japan and elsewhere, and gave existing shareholders the chance to buy on the same terms.

That allowed them to buy shares at 282 pence each -- well above the price of 262p at which they could have bought Barclays shares on the market at 1500 GMT. Investors have until 1100 BST on Thursday to sign up.

HBOS is raising 4 billion pounds through a rights issue at 275p a share, compared with a current share price of 254p. The deadline to accept is Friday.

The take-up for HBOS is more critical than for Barclays, as shares not taken in its offer could create a big stock overhang.

The offer is underwritten by Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Dresdner (ALVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), who together with sub-underwriters could be left with hundreds of millions of pounds of HBOS shares to hold or sell into an already depressed market.