BGI sale helps Barclays profits soar 92%

Barclays has reported a 92% increase in full-year profits.

Boosted by the sale of its BGI fund management arm to US firm BlackRock last year, the bank hit profits of £11.6bn in 2009.

Excluding this deal profits at the bank, which did not receive state aid during the financial crisis, were £5.3bn, with £2.5bn coming from its Barclays Capital investment banking business.

It will pay an increased £1.5bn in bonuses for 2009, with a further £1.2bn over three years.

However chief executive John Varley and president Bob Diamond have shunned bonuses for the second consecutive year, given "intense public interest and concern" about bankers' pay. Full BBC story...

INTEREST RATES ON CREDIT CARDS have jumped to a 12-year high, leaving millions of borrowers facing "crippling" debts, the Telegraph reports.

The average rate of interest on a credit card has soared to 18.8%, the highest since 1998, with some card holders being forced to pay as much as 46%.

Almost seven million card holders saw their interest rates increase over the last year, despite the Bank of England freezing rates at just 0.5% since March last year. The cost of paying on plastic has gone up by more than a quarter in four years. Full story...