Barclays expecting £6.1bn profit

Banking giant Barclays will report another multibillion-pound profit haul tomorrow despite a turbulent year for its powerhouse investment arm.

The bank, which employs around 56,000 staff in the UK, will also shine some light on the controversial bankers' pay issue, as it reveals the total pay and bonus pot for 2011.

Barclays is expected to report pre-tax profits of £6.1bn (€7.26bn) for 2011, flat on the previous year, as investment arm Barclays Capital was hit by volatile market conditions.

The results come after weeks of conflict over bankers' bonuses, in which Royal Bank of Scotland chief Stephen Hester turned down his £963,000 (€1,147,518) bonus amid mounting pressure and Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio waived his own payout following a leave of absence.

The bank will release its annual results amid reports chief executive Bob Diamond could reportedly receive £11m (€13.1m), including a share award worth as much as seven-and-a-half times his £1.3m (€1.54m) salary.

However, the bank is reportedly set to announce plans to cut pay by up to 30% for 24,000 employees at its investment arm Barclays Capital as it responds to outrage over bankers' bonuses. Earnings for middle-ranking and junior staff will be slashed.

Barclays and its rivals faced wild swings on equity markets last year, as well as higher taxes, write-downs on eurozone debt, increased wholesale funding costs and regulatory changes.

The bank's shares are 26% lower than a year ago because of market turbulence, driven by increasing global recession fears, but this compares to the 50% fall in Lloyds' share price and the 35% drop at RBS.

Robert Law, senior banks analyst at Nomura, has forecast pre-tax profits of £5.8bn (€6.91bn) and said Barclays was a preferred investment to its part-nationalised rivals Lloyds and RBS.

He said: "Of the domestic banking groups, Barclays has the least restructuring of its traditional banking operations to undertake and consequently there is least risk from these areas - but it is the most exposed to the structural pressures on capital markets."

US banks, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JP Morgan, last month reported a plunge in revenues amid turmoil in the eurozone.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse earlier today reported a 637m Swiss franc (€525.9m) loss in the fourth quarter as business at its investment bank slumped amid adverse market conditions.

Meanwhile, banks have flagged increasing cost pressures as rules put in place to protect against future financial crises make it harder for them to generate the high returns investors demand.

Elsewhere, the City will be looking for guidance on how the bank plans to accommodate the recommendations put forward by the Government-appointed Independent Commission on Banking (ICB).

The far-reaching shake-up of the sector includes ring-fencing banks' high street divisions to protect them from riskier investment arms and setting aside more cash to cushion the blow of potential losses or future financial crises.

However, improvement at Barclays' retail and business banking division and its credit card arm Barclaycard in the third quarter is set to continue.

Elsewhere, 50 Barclays customers will be queuing up outside a central London branch to close their accounts in support of the Move Your Money campaign, which encourages people to move their money from big banks to credit unions, building societies and ethical banks such as Charity Bank.