Barclays reports fall in 2011 profit

Feb 10, 2012, 8:54 GMT

London - Britain's Barclays Bank saw pre-tax profits fall by 3 per cent in 2011 to 5.9 billion pounds (9.3 billion dollars), due mainly to a business slowdown in its investment arm, figures published Friday showed.

The bank also said it had cut its bonus pool by a third, to 1.5 billion pounds in 2011, resulting in average reward payouts of 64,000 pounds to investment bankers at Barclays Capital.

The bank did not reveal the bonus for chief executive Bob Diamond, who has caused controversy in the past by collecting huge rewards of several million pounds.

Analysts said the drop in profits at Barclays was due largely to a decline in its investment banking activity, as well as a fall in foreign operations due to the eurozone crisis.

Unlike other large British banks, Barclays was not bailed out by the government in 2008. It raised extra capital on Middle Eastern markets instead. Barclays is Britain's fourth-biggest bank by market value.