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Barclays (NYSE: BCS) posted earnings that would be the envy of almost any other global bank. In the process, it gave the troubled banking industry some hope that the future will not be one of ongoing losses stretching well into this year, if not into next.
The bank's second half surprised analysts. According to Bloomberg, "It looks like a pretty good underlying performance and start to 2009," said Michael Trippitt, a London-based analyst at Oriel Securities Ltd., who has an `add' rating on Barclays." A lot of the improvement came because many of Barclays large consumer and business service divisions did well when the effects of toxic asset where taken out.
The news gives some hope to operations like Citigroup (NYSE:C), especially if the new stimulus package takes hold. Activity for mortgage loans and car loans could spike up. And the huge expansion of infrastructure contemplated under the government programs will require business expansion. In many cases, that will involve borrowing.
A week ago, Citigroup was a candidate for some kind of nationalization. Barclays gives Citi's shareholders some hope that the is another path.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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