Barclays said today that it had delivered third-quarter profits of £1.56 billion sterling after another strong performance from its investment banking business.
The haul took profits for the first nine months of the year to £4.54 billion, down 19% on a year earlier.
But it said its loan losses soared by 65% to £6.2 billion in the nine-month period compared with the first three quarters of 2008.
Shrugging off the falls in profit, Barclays' CEO John Varley said the group had 'maintained strong income momentum in the third quarter,' particularly at its investment banking arm Barclays Capital.
The British group has managed to avoid the massive government bail-outs suffered by rivals Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
Barclays last year won a $7 billion capital injection largely backed by Abu Dhabi and Qatar, as it survived the credit crunch without government aid.
But Abu Dhabi has since sold most of its holding. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, also recent trimmed its Barclays stake.
