Barclays makes £9,000 a minute

Barclays triggered a new row over banking profits today when it revealed that it made a record £4.6 billion last year.

The bank, the first of the high street "Big Four" to report its 2004 results, said its pre-tax profit rose 20 per cent from the £3.85billion it made in 2003. The figure, around

£9,000 per minute, was boosted by record profits of £801 million from the group's Barclaycard subsidiary.

It comes a week after the major credit card issuers were blasted by

MPs for using "confusing" ways of charging interest and imposing "significant" fees on borrowers.

The profits will trigger huge performance bonuses for Barclays directors. The best paid director last year was chairman Matt Barrett, who got £3.09 million, including a £1.9 million cash bonus. Today Mr Barrett said: "2004 was a very successful year for Barclays."

The main quoted banks are forecast to make a total of more than £30billion this year, leading to claims from consumer groups they are profiteering at the expense of customers and businesses.