Barclays shares jumped over 6% this morning after reporting a 12% surge in first-half profits, beating expectations.
Pre-tax profit for the six months to June 30 soared to £1.96 billion from £1.76 billion a year earlier, helped by lower bad debts and higher earnings at its UK consumer banking arm.
Operating profit at Barclays' UK personal financial services business were up 12% to £534m, while the bad debt charge fell 9% to £652m.
'We feel good about our ability to sustain momentum in the second half and years to come,' said Barclays chief executive Matt Barrett.
Stuart Draper, head of research at Dolmen said that Barclays' market based products came in significantly above expectations. Barclays Capital was £50m stronger year-on-year, helped by $100 billion of debt issuance in the first half.
