Barclays reports profit as fresh probe emerges

File picture: Toby Melville, Reuters

File picture: Toby Melville, Reuters

Published Jul 29, 2012

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Barclays, the UK lender fined for rigging the London interbank offered rate (Libor), apologised for its role in the scandal as it posted first-half profit that beat analysts’ estimates.

Pretax profit excluding one-time items rose 13 percent to £4.23 billion (R54.5bn), Absa’s parent said on Friday. That beat the £3.9bn median prediction in a Bloomberg poll.

“We are sorry for what has happened,” chairman Marcus Agius said. “However, our leadership continues to focus on the delivery of our financial performance targets.”

Barclays’s attempts to put its regulatory troubles behind it were complicated on Friday as it said four employees, including finance director Chris Lucas, were being probed over the disclosure of fees related to the bank’s fundraising in 2008.

The lender, whose three top executives stepped down after it was fined £290 million last month for rigging the Libor, also said it was the target of more lawsuits in the US related to the scandal. – Bloomberg

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