Profits at British bank Barclays hit record high in 2006: report

Britain's Barclays Band announced on Tuesday a record pre-tax profit of 7.14 billion pounds (about 14 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006, up 35 percent on the previous year, the Independent newspaper reported.

Describing 2006 as "an excellent year", Barclays group chief executive John Varley said its jump in profits was driven largely by its investment banking and fund management businesses.

The bank was "well-positioned for future growth", and it was also "good for this country" in several ways, he said.

The increase in profits came despite ongoing bad debt troubles of 2.15 billion pounds (about 4.2 billion dollars) at its credit card business, up 37 percent on the previous year, Varley said.

He added that the success in 2006 means the bank will pay about two billion pounds (3.9 billion dollars) in tax.

Barclays is the first of the Big Five banks -- HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland -- to report 2006 profits. The other four are also reported to have made big profits in 2006, according to the Independent.

Source: Xinhua