Barclays’ investment banking arm made a profit in August despite being forced to write down the value of assets hit by the market turmoil, Bob Diamond, the UK bank’s president, said Monday. Speaking to investors in New York, Mr Diamond acknowledged that, like other investment banks, Barclays Capital had “suffered pain” in July and August. However, he said the bank had traded profitably in August and profits were ahead of where they were in 2006. Concerns about the impact of credit market turmoil have undermined Barclays’ share price and the value of its takeover bid for ABN Amro, relative to a rival bid from a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium. Mr Diamond acknowledged the consortium’s offer was likely to beat Barclays’ unless market conditions prove too difficult or regulators intervene.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 5:45 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A, People. Tagged with abn amro, barclays, bob diamond, rbs. Edit this entry.