London shares rise on strong Barclays results

London shares opened higher as troubled bank Barclays posted strong first half results, traders said.

The FTSE 100 index added 12.70 points or 0.23 percent to 5,585.86 points at 8:22 am.

Barclays interim net profits shrank to ?70 million on vast exceptional charges, as it apologised again for the Libor rate-rigging scandal that has rocked the group.

Earnings after taxation shrank to the equivalent of 89 million euros or $110 million in the six months to June, compared with ?1.5 billion in the same period of the previous year.

However, excluding the charges, underlying pretax profit jumped 13 percent to ?4.23 billion, spurred by a 38 percent improvement in profits from wealth and investment management.

?We continue to deliver a good financial performance in the context of the current macroeconomic climate," said chairman Marcus Agius.

Barclays shares soared 4.88 percent to 161.10 pence, leading the gainers in the FTSE index.

Resources stocks also gained, with Evraz adding 1.36 percent to 223.70 pence, Kazakhmys rising 1.31 percent to 696 pence and Fresnillo going up 1.14 percent to 1,423 pence.

First half results from Pearson failed to impress investors and the publisher's shares sank 3.32 percent to 1,251 pence.

Operating profit dropped to ?188 million from ?208 million a year ago, though sales improved ?6 percent to ?2.6 billion.

The company reiterated its full year outlook of growth in sales and operating profit, saying: "At this early stage, Pearson sees good trading momentum in North America, International and the FT Group offsetting weakness in Professional Education and Penguin."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/london-shares-rise-strong-barclays-results-074332333.html

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