BANKING giant Barclays is preparing to sell part of its Barclaycard credit card business in a bid to cut its exposure to bad debts, it was reported today.

Barclays has reported a 20% surge in 2003 pre-tax profits to £3.84bn (€6.55bn).

Britain's third largest bank, Barclays, is thought to be near to closing a deal to purchase Providian Financial, the US credit card company, in a deal which could be worth $4bn (€3.15bn).