Barclays Share News (BARC)

- Adjusted income falls less than expected- Sharp drop in investment banking profits- Strong showings by PCB and BarclaycardBarclays has reported a 12% fall in total income adjusted for insurance claims for the first half to £13.32bn, driven by reductions at its investment and African banking units.The consensus estimate had been for a drop to £13.23bn.Impairments decreased by 33% to £1.086bn, resulting in a 9% drop in net operating income to £12.246bn.Also on adjusted basis operating expenses dropped 9% to hit £8.877bn, including £494m in costs related to its Transform (CTA) program.Profits before tax fell 7% to £3.349bn.Net profits were reduced by 9% to £2.24bn and group attributable profit - which includes the impact of non-controlling and other equity interests - by 14% to £1.76bn.For the second quarter of the year net profits swung into the blue to the tune of £161m, versus a £168m loss a year ago.Provisions for additional payments against the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandals amounted to £900m. That was higher than the £400m in provisions expected by analysts at broker Numis. The adjusted return on shareholders' equity slipped to 6.5% for the first six months of the year, versus 7.8% in the comparable period of 2013. The so-called common equity Tier 1 ratio improved to 9.9% versus 9.1% in 2013.Sharp drop in investment banking profitsIncome at the lender's investment banking division fell by 18% to £4.257bn, driven by a decrease in Markets. That was less than the 23% drop which had been expected by some analysts. Profits before tax at the unit however were diminished by 46% to £1.058bn, driven by a decrease in Markets. The personal and corporate banking (PCB) division saw profits before tax rise by 23% to £1.468bn, Barclaycard by 24% to £764m while in Africa Banking they decreased by 12% £484bn.Income at the latter of these units took a hit from adverse currency movements.The bank has been slashing costs across the board with plans to cut 7,000 jobs by the next three years at the investment banking division. Before today shares in the company had fallen 19% this year amid a scandal involving high-frequency trading in its dark pool or private-trading platform. It is also negotiating a settlement with the UK over a currency-rigging probe. Commenting on the outlook for the rest of the year the lender said that "2014 will be a transition year as we continue to make investments and focus on balance sheet optimisation and cost reduction."AB