Barclays Bonus Pool Rises for the First Time in Five Years

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Barclays Plc has increased the size of its staff bonus pool for the first time since 2013 as the British lender posts a 20 percent profit gain.

The bank said it would hand its 83,500-strong workforce bonuses totaling about 1.65 billion pounds ($2.2 billion), an increase of nine percent on the amount it paid for 2017, according to the lender’s annual report.

Investment bank bonuses have been boosted by a similar percentage, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified because the information isn’t public. The bank declined to comment.

At least one of the reasons for the bank’s decision to increase compensation of some of its staff was the threat of losing employees to rivals. “A small part of the increase in the incentive pool is intended to ensure that we continue to align pay with performance and retain high performing talent in key areas,” the bank said.

Barclays said its corporate and investment banking division was the “major contributor” to profit growth over 2018.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stefania Spezzati in London at sspezzati@bloomberg.net;Harry Wilson in London at hwilson57@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Marion Dakers

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