Barclays says on track for profit rise

LONDON – British bank Barclays is confident of meeting expectations for four per cent earnings growth this year and said diversification had provided some shield from turbulence in capital markets, boosting its shares.

Britain’s third-biggest bank said yesterday it should deliver a 2007 pretax profit of 7,1 billion pounds (N$99,4 billion), up from underlying profit of 6,8 billion in 2006. Barclays is striving to reassure investors it can grow its domestic and international retail arm and has a clear strategy after losing a bid battle to buy Dutch rival ABN AMRO earlier this year, which would have made it a top 10 global bank.More worrying for investors – and a reason for a 20 per cent tumble by its shares in the last seven weeks – are fears of a sharp slowdown in growth at its investment bank arm and speculation of funding problems due to a global credit crunch.Barclays said its liquidity remained strong and it continued to see good inflows of deposits.Its performance in the first nine months of this year was underpinned by “good” profit growth in UK retail after the impact of refunds on bank charges and at asset manager Barclays Global Investors.It reported “strong” profit growth at its Barclaycard credit card unit excluding one-off items, “excellent” profit growth at Barclays Wealth and “very strong” income growth in its international businesses outside South Africa.It opened 278 new overseas branches in the first nine months of the year.Nampa-ReutersBarclays is striving to reassure investors it can grow its domestic and international retail arm and has a clear strategy after losing a bid battle to buy Dutch rival ABN AMRO earlier this year, which would have made it a top 10 global bank.More worrying for investors – and a reason for a 20 per cent tumble by its shares in the last seven weeks – are fears of a sharp slowdown in growth at its investment bank arm and speculation of funding problems due to a global credit crunch.Barclays said its liquidity remained strong and it continued to see good inflows of deposits.Its performance in the first nine months of this year was underpinned by “good” profit growth in UK retail after the impact of refunds on bank charges and at asset manager Barclays Global Investors.It reported “strong” profit growth at its Barclaycard credit card unit excluding one-off items, “excellent” profit growth at Barclays Wealth and “very strong” income growth in its international businesses outside South Africa.It opened 278 new overseas branches in the first nine months of the year.Nampa-Reuters