London--Scandal-hit bank Barclays warned Wednesday that fines over its alleged role in foreign exchange market rigging could top £2.0 billion ($3.1 billion, 2.8 billion euros), after posting plunging first-quarter net profits.
The British lender revealed it has set aside another £800 million for "investigations and litigation primarily relating to foreign exchange", taking the group's total provision to £2.050 billion.
Media reports meanwhile suggest that Barclays is close to a settlement with global regulators over the alleged rigging of foreign exchange markets.
Barclays -- which was also at the heart of the 2012 Libor interbank interest-rate rigging scandal -- added on Wednesday that it took another provision of £150 million for costs of compensating customers over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI).
The grim news sent net profits tumbling 52 percent to £465 million in the three months to the end of March compared with a year earlier.
Pretax profit, however, rose nine percent to £1.85 billion on a strong performance from its restructured investment banking division. That was in line with market expectations.
"Resolving legacy conduct issues is... an important part of our plan to transform Barclays," said chief executive Antony Jenkins in the earnings release.
"We are working hard to expedite their settlement and have taken further provisions of £800 million this quarter, primarily relating to foreign exchange.
"While we still have much to do, I am pleased with how we've begun 2015."
He added: "The investment bank had a good first quarter representing a performance which is more indicative of the potential of the franchise following the repositioning undertaken last year."
AFP
