Barclays PLC report high profits

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The start of 2009 was likely to be a challenge for many businesses based within or just outside the banking sector.

However, that wasn’t the case for Barclays, who have reported profits a lot higher than what analysts expected.

Barclays PLC report high profits

Barclays Plc reported second-half profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates, and President Robert Diamond said the investment bank had an “extremely strong” start to 2009 after buying Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. assets.

Barclays, the third-biggest U.K. bank by assets, rose 11 percent in London trading after saying credit writedowns this year will be less than last year’s 8.1 billion pounds. Net income jumped to 2.66 billion pounds ($3.9 billion), or 31.3 pence a share, in the six months ended Dec. 31, up 49 percent from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on full-year results posted today.