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Barclays reported a fall in first-half profit as higher income was offset by a 'materially higher' credit impairment charge as the British bank set aside billions to protect against bad loans.
Pre-tax profit more than halved to £1.27bn from £3.0bn on-year while total income increased 8% to $11.6bn.
The increase in income and reduction in operating expenses was offset by 'materially higher credit impairment charge,' the company said.
Credit impairment charges increased to £3.7bn from £0.9bn on-year.
Common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a key performance measure, rose to 14.2% from 13.8% seen at the end of December last year.
Looking ahead, the company said income in Barclays UK and CC&P was expected to gradually recover from the second-quarter levels, but certain headwinds, including from the low interest rate environment, were likely to persist into 2021.
Impairment, meanwhile in the second half of the year was expected to remain above the level experienced in recent years, but be below the first-half impairment charge 'assuming no change in macroeconomic forecasts,' the company said.