Barclays sees fall in profits

Barclays sees a fall in profits by 3% to £5.9bn for last year.


The bonus pool was also down by 32% to £1.5bn in 2011, with senior executives seeing a bonus cut around 48%.


The bank did not receive any state aid during the financial crisis. 


The BBC reports:
"Income at investment bank arm Barclays Capital (BarCap) fell to £1.8bn in the fourth quarter of last year, down 19% on the previous three months. The eurozone debt crisis hit the division's bond trading activity.

Mr Diamond (chief executive Barclays) said in a statement: "Against a backdrop of challenging economic and market conditions, we maintained our focus."

However, the adjusted return on equity was 6.6% for the year, down from 6.8% in 2010 and well below its target of 13%. 

"We are not satisfied with the return on equity we delivered in 2011 and are committed to delivering steady improvement moving forwards," Mr Diamond said.

"We expect the economic and regulatory environment to continue to be challenging in 2012," he added.

Barclays said losses on bad loans fell by a third from 2010 to £3.8bn.

The bank said it had exceeded its targets on lending to UK businesses under the Project Merlin programme, with £43.6bn of gross new lending to businesses, including £14.7bn to small and medium size firms.

The bank also said it had strengthened its Tier 1 capital ratio - money held in reserve as a buffer against financial troubles - to 11%."

Source: BBC News