LONDON: British bank Barclays said Tuesday that net profit rose 15 percent in the first quarter, aided by its retail, credit card and corporate banking divisions.

Earnings after taxation climbed to 965 million ($1.6 billion, 1.2 billion euros) in the three months to the end of March, compared with 839 million in the same part of 2013, Barclays said in a results statement.

However, the lender added that adjusted pre-tax profit, stripping out fluctuations in the value of the bank’s own debt and provisions to reimburse customers for mis-sold products, sank 5.0 percent to 1.69 billion in the quarter.

The drop in adjusted profits was sparked by an ongoing slowdown in fixed- income trading at the group’s investment banking arm.

The results were published ahead of the group’s strategy update that will be unveiled on Thursday by chief executive Antony Jenkins.

“A continued strong momentum across our retail, cards and corporate banking franchises, all of which generated higher returns year on year, offset by a significant decline in FICC (Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities) income within the investment bank, resulting in group adjusted profit before tax decreasing 5.0 percent,” Jenkins added in the statement. — AFP