Barclays reports growing levels of bad debt

Rising levels of bad debt continued to trouble Barclays bank today, after it reported further growth in the number of customers in difficulty.

While the banking giant said it had traded strongly in the first quarter of the year, it said provisions to cover UK bad debts grew at a similar level in 2005, when Barclaycard charges rose 44% to £1.1bn (€1.6bn) for the full year.

In a trading update, Barclays said income and expenses at the group were both “significantly ahead” of market expectations. Prior to today, analysts were looking for full-year profits of £6.12bn (€8.9bn) in 2006, compared with the £5.28bn (€7.7bn) reported a year earlier.