Barclays bank says Q1 net profit rises to Rs 965 million
Net profit rose 15%, aided by its retail, credit card and corporate banking divisions
London: British bank Barclays said that net profit rose 15 percent in the first quarter, aided by its retail, credit card and corporate banking divisions.
Earnings after taxation climbed to Rs 965 million ($1.6 billion, 1.2 billion euros) in the three months to the end of March, compared with Rs 839 million in the same part of 2013, Barclays said in a results statement.
However, the lender added that adjusted pre-tax profit, stripping out fluctuations in the value of the bank's own debt and provisions to reimburse customers for mis-sold products, sank 5.0 percent to Rs 1.69 billion in the quarter. The drop in adjusted profits was sparked by an ongoing slowdown in fixed-income trading at the group's investment banking arm. The results were published ahead of the group's strategy update that will be unveiled on Thursday by chief executive Antony Jenkins.
"A continued strong momentum across our retail, cards and corporate banking franchises, all of which generated higher returns year on year, offset by a significant decline in FICC (Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities) income within the investment bank, resulting in group adjusted profit before tax decreasing 5.0 percent," Jenkins added in the statement. "UK Retail, Barclaycard and Corporate together drove approximately half of the group's income this quarter and we remain well positioned to benefit from further improvements in the economic environment."