LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - Barclays set aside 2.1
billion pounds ($2.62 billion) to cover a likely spike in loan
losses as thousands of its corporate and consumer borrowers
battle to cope with the financial fallout of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The British lender booked first quarter pretax profits of
923 million pounds, down 38% from 1.5 billion pounds in the
first quarter of 2019 and shy of the 1.27 billion pounds average
of analysts' forecasts compiled by the bank.
Barclays said group income rose by 20% to 6.3 billion
pounds, boosted by a surge in activity in its transatlantic
investment bank where pretax profits leapt by 42% to 1.2 billion
pounds.
The fixed income, currencies and commodities unit was the
investment bank's best performer over the quarter, posting a
106% rise in income to 1.9 billion pounds as it cashed in on
sharp global market swings in some of the world's largest
economies.
($1 = 0.8013 pounds)
(Reporting By Lawrence White and Iain Withers, editing by
Sinead Cruise)