Barclays unveils slide in third-quarter profits

Banking giant Barclays has reported a 29 per cent drop in third-quarter profits after taking a hit from foreign exchange transactions and the sale of mortgage securities.
Barclays has reported a fall in quarterly profits. Picture: APBarclays has reported a fall in quarterly profits. Picture: AP
Barclays has reported a fall in quarterly profits. Picture: AP

The group, which yesterday confirmed that Jes Staley will become its new chief executive from 1 December, posted a pre-tax profit of £861 million for the three months to the end of September, down from £1.2 billion a year earlier.

Barclays set aside £270m during the quarter in relation to the settlement of two residential mortgage-backed securities claims in the US and “certain legacy benchmark litigation”, taking the total additional provisions for ongoing investigations and litigation, including foreign exchange, to just over £1bn.

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In the UK, additional customer redress provisions of £290m were made as a result of an internal review relating to rates provided to certain customers on foreign exchange transactions between 2005 and 2012, taking the total set aside for UK customer redress in 2015 to £1.3bn.

However, chairman John McFarlane insisted the bank’s results showed “another quarter of progress” in its core businesses.

He added: “As we align Barclays around our three priorities – focus on core (segments and markets), generating shareholder value, and instilling a high performance culture with strong ethical values – we now have a forward agenda that has been discussed and agreed with Mr Staley.

“We will update the market on our plans for structural reform after we have agreed them with the regulator.”

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