British bank Barclays PLC said yesterday that net earnings jumped 29 percent in the first half of this year on the back of surging profits at its investment banking division and tumbling bad debts.
Profits after tax climbed to £2.431 billion (US$3.863 billion) in the six months to June, compared with £1.888 billion in the same part of last year, the group said in a results statement.
Pre-tax earnings rallied 44 percent to £3.9 billion after the group’s investment banking unit, Barclays Capital, saw profits more than triple to £3.4 billion.
Bad debt charges, meanwhile, plunged by 32 percent to £3.080 billion in the reporting period.
“Against the backdrop of subdued economic and market activity, and the sovereign debt storm of the second quarter, we have delivered good growth in income and profits during the first half of the year,” chief executive John Varley said.
The bank added that it was pleased with its performance, but acknowledged that the outlook was uncertain.
“Although the market and economic environment in which we operate remains uncertain, I am pleased with the strength of our income generation, the flexibility in our cost base and the performance of our risk management which, in combination, are driving higher profits and returns,” finance director Chris Lucas said in the earnings release.
Despite the healthy earnings, Barclays’ share price fell 2.82 percent to £3.306 in yesterday’s opening deals on the London Stock Exchange, while the FTSE 100 index was down 0.04 percent at 5,383.94 points.
Barclays becomes the latest British bank to report surging profits in the first half of this year, continuing a trend set by rivals HSBC PLC, Lloyds Banking Group PLC and Standard Chartered PLC earlier this week. Royal Bank of Scotland PLC will unveil its figures today.
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