Gross mortgage lending has risen from the £7.6bn figure recorded in the same period last year. This means Barclays now holds mortgage balances of £110bn, up from the £107.8bn recorded at the end of December 2011.
The number of UK mortgage accounts rose substantially to 932,000, up 7,000 on one year ago.
The average loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for new mortgage lending rose slightly to 55%, although the total LTV level of its mortgage portfolio remained flat at 44%. The percentage of Barclays mortgages in more than 90 days of arrears remains at 0.3%.
The proportion of new mortgages above 85% LTV was 4.8%. The bank said that the increased average LTV for new mortgages was boosted by the launch of a 90% LTV product, which reflected its increased appetite for risk.
The bank’s adjusted profit before tax rose 13% to £4.2bn for the first six months of 2012, slightly ahead of analyst estimates. Net income for the period rose by 9% year-on-year to £3.1bn.
Its retail division saw pre-tax profits rise 15%, with profits for the corporate and investment banking arm rising 11% – though this masked a 2% decline in investment banking profits.
But these figures, combined with a 38% rise in pre-tax profit for its wealth management income, demonstrate “the benefits of the universal banking model”, Barclays said.
