Barclays profit falls, cuts bonus pool 26%

MADRID (MarketWatch)
U.K. banking group Barclays PLC on Friday reported said profit fell amid "challenging economic and market conditions," and slashed its bonus pool
Full-year net attributable profit fell to 3 billion pounds ($4.75 billion) against a profit of GBP3.56 billion in 2010
Net interest income fell to GBP12.2 billion against GBP12.52 billion
The company said it's increasing its cost-reduction target to GBP2 billion by 2013 for non-performance costs, and also has cut total incentive awards across the group by 26%
 "We are not satifisfied with the return on equity we delivered in 2011 and are committed to delivering steady improvement moving forward," said Bob Diamond, Chief Executive Officer
 Barclays said the January performance of retail and business banking and corporate banking was "consistent with the good performance achieved in 2011
Though it is too soon to suggest a trend, improvement in market conditions resulted in an encouraging start to the year for Barclays Capital," the company said