British bank Barclays said today that net profits stood at £2.48 billion sterling in the first nine months of 2010, almost unchanged from last year's figure.
Barclays said that pre-tax profit rose 4% to £4.274 billion in the reporting period, while impairment charges or bad loan and other credit provisions fell by 31% to £4.298 billion.
'Our income and profit performance was resilient for the first nine months of 2010 despite a subdued economic environment and moderate volumes,' said Barclays chief executive John Varley.
'We continued to invest in a number of our businesses on a pay-as-you-go basis with a view to increasing future returns on equity. Our loan loss rate and overall impairment charge have improved further in the third quarter,' he added.
Income at Barclays Capital fell to £2.83 billion in the third quarter, down 14% from the previous quarter, to extend a first-half slowdown as capital markets activity weakened.
BarCap's income in October was consistent with the run rate of the third quarter, the bank said.
Barclays has emerged as one of the relative winners from the financial crisis after steering clear of a UK taxpayer bailout, but there has been growing concern about BarCap's slowing momentum.
