Barclays Profits ‘Largely Unaffected’

Last year’s figure is a slight decrease on 2006 when profits yielded a return of £7.2 billion, but it’s still way above industry expectations. The majority of analysts expected Barclays (www.barclays.co.uk) to post profits slightly beneath the £7 billion mark.

Underlying profits rose 3% even excluding the sale of businesses. It was these sales that are believed to have boosted earnings in 2006.

Despite posting these encouraging figures, Barclays shares fell by 3% to 447 pence on the LSE this morning. Analysts said Barclays' results were resilient, and its price dip was due to a 7.6% rally yesterday afternoon.

John Varley, Barclays chief executive, remained on the front foot when discussing the bank’s performance in 2007:

‘The market threw pretty much everything it could do at the capital markets businesses, and you can see the results that Barclays has generated. Our performance in 2007 gives us a lot of confidence.’

Alliance & Leicester (www.alliance-leicester.co.uk) and Lloyds TSB (www.lloydstsb.com) will report their 2007 figures later this week.

Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at CreditChoices, expects the global credit crisis to impact heavily on banks’ profits in 2008:

‘The effects of the US sub-prime meltdown will be far reaching, and the shakeout could take up to 3 years. 2008 will be a tough year for Barclays, and they will have to diversify even further to meet their targets. If the OFT wins their unfair overdraft fees case, this will only exacerbate the banks’ problems even further.’

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