Barclays on Friday formally conceded defeat in the six-month battle for ABN Amro, but its chief executive insisted the UK banking group had “plenty of fuel in our tanks”.

The concession came after Barclays revealed that holders of just 4.4m shares – equivalent to about 0.2 per cent of ABN Amro’s share capital – had accepted its offer for the Dutch bank. A consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland is next week expected to announce formal victory for its €70bn ($98bn) break-up bid.