Barclays report £900mn in bad debt in Spain

 

Barclays reduced staff bonuses by 7% for 2010, even though profits increased beyond initial forecasts to 32%, as levels of bad debt decreased everywhere except Spain.

Last year's profits before tax increased from £4.59bn to £6.1bn, beyond initial expectations of £5.5bn. The bank said the increase came despite "historically low interest rates; sluggish volumes in many market segments; and considerable regulatory uncertainty".

Bad debts decreased by 30% overall to £5.7bn with a noted fall in impairment at Barclays Capital partially - offset by a significant increase in bad debt in their Spanish arm.

Barclays paid out £3.4bn bonuses, a reduction of 7% on the previous year, whilst bonuses at Barclays Capital fell by 12%. Barclays has also introduced a Contingent Capital Plan (CoCo) as a part of deferred compensation arrangements for all senior staff, which will defer payment for three years.

Barclays Capital reported a pre-tax profit of £4.78bn - an increase of 2% excluding the effect of own credit. Global Retail Banking's profit before tax was £1.83bn, and increase of £0.1bn on 2009. Barclays Corporate made a loss before tax of £631m (2009: profit of £157m) reflecting the levels of bad debt seen in Spain, which was almost £900m.