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Barclays profit jumps 90%
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August 3, 2000: 6:46 a.m. ET
UK bank staves off competitors, adds customers to power first-half growth
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Barclays PLC, Britain's fourth-largest bank by market value, reported Thursday that pre-tax profit rose 90 percent in the first half of the year, topping analysts' forecasts, boosted by strength in retail and corporate banking and a growing customer base.
Barclays said pretax profit rose to £1.84 billion ($2.75 billion), up from £967 million in the first half of 1999. Analysts had expected the company to report pretax profits of £1.82 billion, according to a Reuters poll. The latest results include a one-time gain of £178 million from the sale of its car-leasing unit.
In London trading, shares of Barclays (BARC) were little changed, slipping 1 pence to 1,614 pence shortly after the earnings report was released.
HSBC Securities upgraded its rating on Barclays to "buy" from "hold." The bank has under-performed its rivals by about 2 percent so far this year.
Net earnings in the first half of the year rose to £1,025, or 88.9 pence per share, compared with £434 million, or 46.2 pence a share, in the year-earlier period. 
The bank's retail financial service division posted a 32 percent increase in operating profit to £822 million, while operating profit in corporate banking rose 18 percent to £541 million.
Barclays said it increased its customer base, despite the emergence of online banking options offered by its competitors. Its overall banking margins fell to 3.2 percent, from 3.5 percent a year ago, as competitive pressures forced the bank to offer lower-priced products.
Barclay's own Internet banking service was beset earlier this week with a glitch that allowed a customer to see account details of another bank client.
The bank declared an interim dividend of 20 pence per share, up from 17.5 pence in the first six months of 1999. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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Barclays
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