Barclays reports five per cent drop in adjusted year-to-date income

Barclays said Monday that its adjusted income for July and August was lower than in the same period of the previous year, resulting in a five per cent year-on-year decline in adjusted income for the eight-month period to August 31st. The banking giant said adjusted income fell £500m in those two months, which it blamed on "significantly" lower income at its Investment Bank, mainly in the fixed income, currencies and commodities [FICC] division. Said weakness was offset by growth in equities and prime services.Adjusted income for the group, excluding the Investment Bank, for July and August 2013 was broadly flat versus those same months in 2012. The daily income run rate in the Investment Bank in the current month to September 12th 2013 was moderately ahead of the daily income run rate for the months of July and August 2013 but below that for September 2012.Barclays said impairments in July and August 2013 were "broadly consistent" with those months in 2012 and that it continued to "observe similar trends" to those seen in the six-month period ended June 30th 2013, with delinquency rates stable, a low, stable annualised loan loss rate below the group's long-term average, and improvements in wholesale lending as a result of lower impairment charges in Europe. The group said it remained cautious about its operating environment, but continued to focus on costs, capital, leverage and returns "in order to drive sustainable performance improvements".It described cost control as a "critical component" in its commitments, and still expects to deliver £1.2bn of Costs to Achieve (CTA) Transform in 2013. The group also said that it is on track to meet the £18.5bn cost target, excluding CTA, for the year. In other news, and as some had expected for Monday, the group has published the expected time-tables of the principal events for its £5.8bn rights issue.The group has also published the prospectus for the above mentioned issue and said the new shares are expected to be admitted to trading on September 18th. NR