BARCLAYS says it is trading in line with expectations after continued strong growth at its investment and fund management arms.

In yesterday's third quarter trading update, the UK's third largest bank said its core high street banking arm continued to perform well, with good profit growth following a modest rise in revenues and strong cost control. At Barclaycard, which has been hit by rising levels of bad debt, the company said trends remained similar to those seen in the first half of the year.

Chief executive John Varley said: "Barclays continues to deliver strong profit growth. The contributions are well spread by business line and we expect 2005 full-year earnings per share to be broadly in line with market consensus."