Barclays sees headwinds in second half

Bloomberg

Barclays Plc warned of challenges to its capital strength and souring loans at its consumer and corporate businesses as British lenders gear up to battle deteriorating economic conditions.
The UK’s third-largest bank by market value said its earnings later this month will “reflect challenging income and impairment conditions for the consumer and corporate businesses, and continuing strength of markets income.”
Barclays said it’s likely to report a rise in CET1, a measure of the capital strength, to 14% for the end of June, from 13.1% in the first three months of the year, before “headwinds” affect the ratio in the second half.
British banks face unprecedented challenges as the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus pushes many companies towards collapse, forcing lenders to make
provisions to cover the likely losses. Barclays already booked a $2.7 billion charge in April, its biggest quarterly provision in a decade.
New accounting standards are also complicating banks’ efforts to anticipate how businesses and consumers will be affected.
Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley said last month that while spending has started to recover, a spike in unemployment could prompt a second economic storm.