Barclays: posts big quarterly profit despite charges

(CercleFinance.com) - Barclays said it made a profit before tax of 1.
3 billion pounds in the first six months of the year, despite higher credit impairment charges due to the impact of Covid-19.

This compares to a pre-tax profit of 3 billion pounds in the first half 2019.

The British bank said credit impairment charges increased to 3.7 billion pounds in the first half, up from just 928 million pounds a year ago, reflecting the deterioration in its macroeconomic scenario.

However, its corporate and investment bank (CIB) unit saw its profit increase by 31%, driven by strong performance in the markets business, particularly from fixed income, currencies and commodity trading (FICC) (up 83%) and equities (up 26%)

Barclays said impairment in the second half of the year is expected to exceed the level experienced in recent years, although should be below its H1 credit impairment charge.

It also said it will decide on future dividends and its capital returns at the end of 2020, which has not prevented the shares from falling by over 4% on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

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