Shares digital

Barclays (BARC) – Finals PTP: £7,076m (£7,136m) Divi: 32p (27.9p)

Despite a 1% decline in profits this set of results was a source of reassurance across the sector.

The numbers were broadly in line with expectations, there was a further boost in the form of a 10% hike in the dividend and sub-prime related write downs had increased by a relatively modest £300 million to £1.6 billion since the last update in November.

That does not mean the bank can be given an entirely clean bill of health – concerns remain that there may still be some nasty surprises tucked away, but the bank has said that it does not need to raise new capital. The stock has rallied in response and is currently trading for around 490p.

Shares says: Reassuring update from Barclays – the best of a bad bunch at the moment.

by: Tom Sieber