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Barclays said today that its net profit for 2009 more than doubled, helped by a £6.33 billion gain from an asset sale and profits from Barclays Capital, but bad-debt charges weighed on the results, which still beat analysts expectations, with pre-tax profit of over £11 billion, which will possibly beat any other non-Chinese bank in the world. Barclays said 2010 started strongly, with profit before tax "well ahead of first half and full year 2009 run rates." It also said its "planning assumption is for a moderate decline in impairment" in 2010. Net profit for the year ended Dec. 31 was £9.39 billion, up from £4.38 billion a year ago, the bank said. Fourth-quarter net profit rose to £6.66 billion from £557 million a year earlier, according to Dow Jones calculations. Barclays reported a £6.33 billion gain in the last quarter from the sale of Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock Inc., which was closed in December. On a pretax-profit level, results beat the £11.31 billion estimated by a poll of five analysts. It reported a pretax profit of £11.64 billion for the year, up from £6.08 billion in 2008, when it posted a £2.41 billion gain on acquisitions. Impairment charges for the year jumped 49% to £8.07 billion from £5.42 billion. The figure, however, was below the £9 billion estimate the bank gave late last year. "We have strengthened our financial position considerably over the year in the areas of capital, liquidity and leverage and are well positioned to manage further changes that may be required of us by our regulators," Barclays said in a statement. Its Core Tier 1 ratio stood at 10% at December, up from 5.6% a year ago. Breaking it down by division, profit before tax at Barclays Capital rose 89% in 2009, thanks to the purchase of Lehman Brothers, to £2.46 billion "as a result of very strong performances in the U.K., Europe and the U.S., partially offset by a charge of £1.82 million relating to own credit," the bank said. Pretax profit for the U.K. retail banking business, however, fell 55% to £612 million as economic conditions remained challenging. Pretax profit at Barclays commercial bank also fell, down 41% to £749 million, the bank said. The bank declared a final dividend of 1.5 pence a share, giving a total of 2.5 pence a share for the year. The bank also said that Barclays Chief Executive Officer John Varley and President Robert Diamond had waived bonus payments for 2009. Looking for commercial property agents, find lettings and investment property in the UK? Visit http://www.ukbusinessproperty.co.uk
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