Barclays bank swings back into profit

London: British bank Barclays returned to profit in 2016 after slashing provisions set aside for legal and compensation costs linked to foreign exchange and insurance scandals, it said Thursday.

Barclays reported annual net profit of £1.62 billion ($2.0 billion, 1.92 billion euros) compared with a loss after tax of £394 million in 2015, it said in an earnings statement.

The bank set aside no amount at all in 2016 for "ongoing investigations and litigation including foreign exchange", whereas it had taken a hit of more than £1.0 billion over the matters in 2015.

Barclays did provide £1.0 billion last year to compensate customers who were mis-sold a UK insurance product, although this was substantially lower compared with a bill of £2.65 billion for 2015.

Regarding day-to-day operations, Barclays chief executive Jes Staley that the bank´s core businesses in the UK and abroad were performing well, with pre-tax profits up four percent to £6.4 billion.

Published in The News, February 24th,2017