Barclays says Q1 profit up 15 pct UPDATE |
|
|
|
Published
:
Thu, 24 May 2007 07:54
|
(Adds detail from statement)LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Barclays PLC, the UK bank vying to buy ABN Amro of the Netherlands, said pretax profits in the first three months of 2007 rose by 15 pct, helped by a strong performance from its investment banking unit, Barclays Capital.In a trading statement, the UK's third-biggest bank said Barclays Capital enjoyed its 'best quarter ever,' with a strong performance from its commodities, equities and mortgage products divisions contributing to have ry strong profit growth.'Barclays highlighted efficiency gains at its UK division, predicting that the unit's costs as a proportion of revenues for 2007 as a whole would be two percentage points lower compared with 2006.The bank also pointed to an improvement at troubled credit card unit Barclaycard, where profits fell in the last year due to a jump in loan defaults. Barclays said revenues and costs at the division were 'broadly stable' in the first quarter, while bad debt charges were lower.However, the bank said sterling-denominated profits at South African unit Absa fell in the first quarter due to a weak rand, while the US dollar's recent fall against the pound resulted in a 'slight decline' in profits at investment management unit Barclays Global Investors.'Barclays has had a strong start to the year. We continued to deliver double-digit profit growth on top of the outstanding performance in 2006 and made further significant investments across our businesses,' chief executive John Varley said in a statement.Barclays shares closed at 724 pence yesterday, valuing the bank at about 47 bln stg.myles.neligan@thomson.commn/lam/mn/jlwCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
Barclays not seen unveiling ABN offer until late next week 