Bank billions good for graduates? - graduate jobs

Graduates looking for a career in banking may be happy with the news that Barclays made £3.9 billion in profits for the first six months of 2010, an increase of 44% on the same period last year.

The banking giant said its underlying profits were at £3 billion, up 22%, once earnings on its debt were taken out.

Charges levied to Barclays on its bad debts fell by a third, while it recorded £2.5 billion in profits for its investment division.

Staff will share bonuses of £1.7 billion, the bank said, although this includes money deferred from previous periods which was up 18% on last year. Taking the deferred bonuses out of the equation, the pot stands at £1.4 billion.

Barclays Capital's pay-to-income ratio was 42%, although the underlying ratio shows a slight year-on-year drop, it said.

Salaries at Barclays are reportedly 29% higher than they were this time last year.