Barclays Sacks Chief Executive Antony Jenkins

The chairman of Barclays has defended as a "rational" decision the bank's shock sacking of chief executive Antony Jenkins.

The announcement followed discussions over the past fortnight, which Mr Jenkins was warned about, on whether his strategy was working for investors as the bank's share price languishes at levels seen six years ago.

The bank's statement said: "The non-executive directors led by Sir Michael (Mike) Rake, deputy chairman and senior independent director, concluded that new leadership is required to accelerate the pace of execution going forward.

"The Board recognises the contribution made by Antony Jenkins as chief executive over the past three years in incredibly difficult circumstances for the group, and is extremely grateful to him in bringing the company to a much stronger position.

"The situation he inherited would have challenged anyone facing the same issues."

The bank's chairman, John McFarlane, has taken over pending the appointment of a new chief executive.

He has a reputation as a ruthless operator following his tenure at Aviva, when the insurer axed its boss Andrew Moss shortly after his arrival.

Mr McFarlane told Sky News: "We're moving from a recovery situation to a yield plus growth situation ..and therefore this was a rational decision based on right person right time now new person."

He said the bank had not delivered value for shareholders but the looming drive to grow revenues did not signal a return to the worst days of investment banking.

In his statement earlier he explained: "As a Group, if we aspire to bring shareholder returns forward, we need to be much more focused on what is attractive, what we are good at, and where we are good at it.

"We therefore need to improve revenue, costs and capital performance.

"We also need to become more externally focused and deal with the internal bureaucracy by becoming leaner and more agile."

The bank's share price was 3% higher on the news in early trading, adding more than £1bn to its value.

Mr Jenkins took over in the wake of the departure of Bob Diamond - a result of the Libor rate-rigging scandal.

Under his tenure, the bank moved to shrink its hugely profitable investment banking arm and shift its focus towards its less risky retail operation in a restructuring that is resulting in thousands of additional job losses .

However, its results have continued to be hit by the effects of the reforms and past mistakes, including massive fines for rigging foreign exchange rates .

Pre-tax profits for its first quarter fell 26% to £1.4bn and Barclays is due to announce its half-year figures at the end of the month.

The bank later confirmed that Mr Jenkins will receive his current annual salary of £1.1m plus £950,000 in role-based pay and a pension of £363,000 a year.