Litigation and conduct charges in the half-year period hit the attributable profit figure at the bank. Group income, when certain figures were stripped out, rose, however.

Barclays today reported profit attributable to shareholders of £2.5 billion ($3.04 billion) for the first six months of 2022, down from £3.8 billion in the same period a year ago. The figure reflected a £600 million net of tax impact for over-issuance of securities in the US.

Stripping out the over-issuance of securities, the UK-listed bank said group income was £12.4 billion, rising 10 per cent year-on-year, driven by strong client activity in markets, recovery in both consumer, cards and payments (CC&P), and Barclays UK more than offsetting the impact of a weak fee pool in investment banking. 

Total operating costs increased to £9.127 billion, from £7.3 billion in the same half-year period of 2021. Litigation and conduct charges rose sharply, to £1.857 billion (H121: £176 million), it said. These significantly added to the cost figures.

Barclays doesn’t break out financial results for its wealth and investment business.

Credit impairment charges were £300 million, against a £700 million net release a year ago, with provision levels broadly retained in light of an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, it said. 

At the end of June, Barclays had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a measure of its capital “buffer” – of 13.6 per cent, down from 13.8 per cent at the end of March this year.

Barclays said it expects to pay a total of $200 million in a settlement with US regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, over the use by staff of unapproved electronic messaging to conduct business. (Several banks, such as JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, have been punished for such matters.)

“The SEC and the CFTC found that Barclays Bank PLC and BCI (Barclays Capital Inc) failed to comply with their respective record-keeping and supervisory obligations, where such communications were sent or received by employees over electronic messaging channels that had not been approved by the bank for business use by employees,” Barclays said in its statement. 

“The proposed resolution with the SEC and the CFTC will include Barclays Bank PLC and BCI paying a combined $125 million civil monetary penalty to the SEC and a $75 million civil monetary penalty to the CFTC,” it said.