UK bank Barclays managed to contain its profit decline in 2008 to 14% year-on-year with the help of a number of one-time gains. Investors can also take comfort from the fact that in some parts of the bank, at least, business continues as normal, with a 6% profit increase in retail and commercial banking and emerging markets delivering solid growth.
Barclays Group posted a profit for the year of 6.1 billion $9.1 billion, down 14% on 2007. This includes 2.4 billion worth of one-time gains on acquisitions, comprising primarily 2.3 billion related to Barclays' takeover of Lehman Brothers' North American business.
The good news for investors is that Barclays' core retail and commercial...
¬ Haymarket Media Limited. All rights reserved.
