Barclays bank confirms record profits
Today's record profits of £11.6 billion announced by Barclays bank have attracted significant criticism from politicians across the board. The very fact that £2.7 billion has been put aside to cover staff bonuses, with the majority going towards the investment arm, is also causing concern. This comes at a time when the UK banking arena as a whole is still struggling to readjust to life after the recession and the credit crunch. So what next?
Aside from the headline grabbing profits announced today it was also revealed that Barclays' core tier 1 capital ratio - the measurement of financial health - increased from 4.6% in June 2008 to 10%. The company also revealed an increase in "liquid assets" from £43 billion to £127 billion which should keep the Financial Services Authority happy as the quest to increase the buffer between required capital and available capital continues.
In many ways today's results were a no-win situation for Barclays because if the company revealed disappointing figures it would attract criticism from shareholders about funding initiatives in the past, and the record profits have attracted criticism from the political arena. We await further results from the banking arena with anticipation although they are unlikely to be anywhere near as impressive as those from Barclays bank.
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