Barclays India back in black with Rs 382 crore profit

MUMBAI: UK lender Barclays Bank has finally turned the corner in India with a net profit of Rs 382 crore for FY14 as compared to a loss of over Rs 56 crore. The British lender had made an ill-timed entry into India's retail market in 2007 and, after an initial phase of expansion, started downsizing its operations as part of an international restructuring following the global financial crisis.

The bank has completely exited the retail and commercial lending operations which it began in 2007 after making aggressive provisions for loan losses, shutting down some branches and its ATM network. It is now positioning itself as a corporate bank providing wealth management and investment banking services.

"Our India franchise has delivered a strong set of numbers despite a difficult macro-economic environment in the last financial year. Our conversations with clients suggest that business sentiment has improved markedly in recent weeks and we're already seeing transaction activity beginning to pick up meaningfully," said Jaideep Khanna, CEO & country head, Barclays India. "A strong focus on controlling costs while at the same time boosting revenues has helped us achieve an improved cost-income ratio of 37.9% against 55.8% in the previous financial year," he added.