Barclays' extra £750m forex provision overshadows profit rise

Barclays has made increased provisions for a probe into currency market manipulation and other issues, masking a rise in adjusted pre-tax profits.

The bank increased provisions for potential forex costs by £750m to £1.25bn, with this and other provisions prompting a 21% fall in statutory pre-tax profit, to £2.26bn. Stripping out these safeguards, pre-tax profits at the bank rose 12% during the year to £5.5m, while operating expenses were down 9% as a result of a focus on cutting costs. The bank has also set aside an additional £200m for PPI redress, resulting in a full year net charge of £1.1bn. Its wealth and investment management division saw net income rise just 1% to £1.1bn, with gains for the UK offset elsewhere. Sepa...