LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Barclays reported
first quarter profits more than doubled, despite not releasing
cash set aside to cover bad loans from the COVID-19 pandemic as
its British peers had done.
Barclays booked a profit before tax for the three months
ended March 31 of 2.4 billion pounds ($3.34 billion), up from
923 million pounds a year ago and above the 1.76 billion pound
average of analysts' forecasts.
The lender took an impairment charge of 55 mln for further
bad loan charges, much less than analysts had forecast.
($1 = 0.7175 pounds)
(Reporting By Lawrence White and Iain Withers, editing by Anna
Irrera)