Barclays shares soar despite profits fall

Barclays shares shrugged off a larger than expected fall in profits this morning and a downbeat market to climb over 4% in early trading.

By mid-morning, shares in the group were up 4.3% or 9.9p, to 243p, bucking the trend in the blue chip index which was down on renewed Greek concerns. The bank's shares rose despite the group reporting a 3% fall in profits to £5.9bn last year. Adjusted profit before tax was also down 2% compared to 2010 to £5.59bn. However, the group provided some cheer for investors after upping its dividend 9% to 6p from the previous year. Barclays' move higher by was not enough to prop the market up, with the FTSE 100 off 0.3% or 18.5 points, to 5,877. Miners weighed heaviest on the index as p...