Barclays, write-down to 3.1 billion dollars

Barclays Plc increased its 2007 write-down on the value of risky assets to 1.6 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) but reported profits came in broadly as analysts expected.

Photo: Barclays, write-down to 3.1 billion dollars

Barclays on Tuesday reported before-tax earnings of 7.08 billion pounds for 2007, down from 7.14 billion in 2006 but it was more than analyst waited.

Barclays said losses arising from credit market turbulence were 1.635 billion pounds, net of gains from the valuation of issued notes of 658 million pounds. It had previously announced a 1.3 billion pound net write-down on assets linked to U.S. sub-prime mortgages.

Barclays PLC is the 18th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 rankings (2007 list). Barclays PLC is the 4th largest financial services provider in the world by Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion), and the 15th largest in the banking industry by market capitalization ($94.79 billion). It is the third largest bank in the United Kingdom based on market capitalization.

The bank's headquarters are at One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, in London's Docklands, having moved there in May 2005 from Lombard Street in the City of London .