Barclays not concerned by N. Rock nationalisation

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Barclays Plc (BARC.L) is confident the nationalisation of mortgage bank Northern Rock NRK.L will not create a competitive threat in the UK sector, its chief executive, John Varley, said on Tuesday. The government's decision to bring Northern Rock into public ownership this weekend has raised concerns in the sector that rival banks could be at a disadvantage -- competing with a state-backed player in the key mortgage and savings markets, as the troubled lender pulls itself back from the brink.

"I can see why in theory it might be a source of concern but I feel confident those concerns will be understood, and that the playing field will be level," Varley told reporters in a conference call after the bank posted 2007 results.

"In practice, it is not something that worries us."

Northern Rock is Britain's fifth-biggest mortgage provider, accounting for one in 13 home loans after aggressively lending in a booming housing market in recent years.

It is now expected to shrink its assets to about half the size before the crisis, but to boost retail savings.

"What we really needed to have was clarity; what the government gave us over the weekend was clarity," Bob Diamond, the bank's president and chief executive of its investment banking arm, told CNBC television.

"It is what it is, and now we need to move forward."

For more on Barclays' results, click on [nL19317420].

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Quentin Bryar)