Top UK banks see bad debts fall

10/11/09 20:45 CET

economy

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Reporting a lower third-quarter pretax profit of 1.7 billion euros, Barclays credited strong investment banking returns.

Britain’s second-biggest bank also said it expects bad debts to peak earlier than it had previously forecast. However Barclays shares dipped on concern it will not be able to sustain its growth. And Europe’s largest bank HSBC has said its underlying third-quarter profits were significantly ahead of a year ago and losses on US consumer loans had fallen for the first time in three years. HSBC’s Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan said “the biggest jolt has now passed through the global economy.” Meanwhile the bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group has announced it will cut a further 5,000 jobs by the end of next year. Lloyds, which is 43 percent owned by the UK government, is making the cuts as it integrates HBOS, the bank it took over to prevent it failing.More about: Banking, Economy, United Kingdom

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