Barclays bank says profits weaken in first quarter

April 27, 2011 | 14:40

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British bank Barclays said Wednesday that net profits dipped slightly in the first quarter, as turnover sank at its investment banking division Barclays Capital.

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Earnings after taxation fell five percent to £1.012 billion ($1.67 billion, 1.14 billion euros) in the three months to March, compared with £1.067 billion in the same part of the previous year, it said in a results statement.

Pre-tax profits slid by nine percent to £1.66 billion. That fell short of market expectations of about £1.8 billion, Dow Jones Newswires said.

The lender, which unlike many of its rivals survived the global financial crisis without state support, added that Barclays Capital revenues had tumbled by 15 percent to 3.28 billion pounds in the first quarter.

At the same time, however, total impairment charges and other bad debt provisions fell to £921 million. That compared with 1.508 billion last time around.

"We have made a good start in 2011 in a challenging external environment," said Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond in the earnings release. He added that the group had experienced "another solid quarter of profits".

AFP

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