Barclays beat expectations thanks to surging revenues at its trading business.
FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) trading operations revenues rose 93% but there was still nearly £1bn hit from a trading error in the US.
“Barclays continues to wear the recent US structured products trading debacle like a heavy weight around its neck and this drags down an otherwise fairly positive set of third quarter numbers,” said AJ Bell’s Laith Khalaf.
“The economic slowdown and stock market turmoil also means the investment banking arm is struggling as big corporate deals are on the backburner for the time being.
“Volatility isn’t bad news for every part of the business and strong bond trading has helped the company post profit notably ahead of forecasts, while higher interest rates are supportive, just as they are with other banks.
“However, the flipside of this is that Barclays is having to set aside more funds to cover a possible increase in bad debts as people and businesses find themselves getting into difficulty as the cost of borrowing goes up.”
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