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.
Share this..
Related stories
Another Bradford And Bingley Director Bites The Dust
News that Mark Stevens the respected group sales director of troubled Bradford and Bingley has given notice to quit the group has weakened a group which seems to be in something of a terminal decline. Richard Pym the new chief executive of Bradford and Bingley has expressed his regret at the decision of Mr Stevens but it seems that his mind is made up. So what next for the once famous Bradford a...
Read MoreLloyds bank launches £13.5 billion rights issue
Today we have seen Lloyds bank launch a £13.5 billion rights issue which is roughly in the middle of market expectations. This is the first step in the next phase of the recovery process for Lloyds bank and will allow the company to buy itself out of the UK government's asset protection scheme and also inject further capital into the company's balance sheet. So what next for Lloyds bank?
<...
HSBC optimistic for the future
Banking giant HSBC has today delivered third-quarter figures which were better than expected and showed that bad debts provisions have fallen to their lowest level for 12 months. It is fair to say that these figures surprised many analysts who believed that in line with the general banking sector, HSBC Management would attempt to downplay any recovery and increase bad debt provisions.
Read More
Does Barclays bank face a £17 billion funding shortfall?
Analysts in the City are becoming more and more concerned about the financial strength of Barclays bank with new capital regulations set to be introduced for global financial institutions. While last year JP Morgan suggested the bank would have deficit of around £12.8 billion, Credit Suisse has today issued a suggestion that Barclays bank could be in the market for a £17 billion injection of fun...
Read MoreShanks receives bid approach from Carlyle Group
After months of speculation it has been revealed that waste management company, Shanks has received a bid approach from Carlyle Group of £1.35 a share. It is believed that Carlyle has made a number of approaches over the last few months but this is the only one which has been announced to the market with Shanks directors not sure whether the earlier approaches were "serious enough". It would a...
Read More