(MENAFN - AFP) British bank Barclays, rocked by a rate-rigging scandal earlier this year, said on Wednesday it fell into a nine-month net loss because of huge accounting charges.
Barclays, which also took a large provision for insurance mis-selling, said in a results statement that losses after taxation stood at 200 million (321 million, 248 million euros) in the nine months to September.
That compared with 2.7 billion last time around, and the bank's shares fell sharply.
The bank had already flagged two weeks ago that it would take a 1.01-billion charge on the rising value of its own debt.
The group, which suffered a boardroom shake-up after the Libor interest rate-rigging scandal, had also announced it would set aside another 700 million to compensate clients mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
Barclays added however that adjusted pre-tax third-quarter profits before exceptional items rallied 29 percent to 1.727 billion, boosted by its investment banking division. That was in line with the company's own guidance.
"These results demonstrate that we continue to have good momentum in our businesses despite the difficulties we faced through this period," said chief executive Antony Jenkins in the earnings release.
"While we have much to do to restore trust among stakeholders, our universal banking franchise remains strong and well positioned."
The bank also revealed that the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission were "undertaking an investigation into whether the group's relationships with third parties who assist Barclays to win or retain business are compliant with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act."
It added that it would "fully" cooperate with authorities.
Barclays also announced that the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Enforcement has been investigating Barclays power trading in the western US with respect to the period from late 2006 through 2008.
The bank said that it would "vigorously defend" this matter.
News of the regulatory investigations sent Barclays' share price sliding in morning deals on the London stock market, at a time when the group faces ongoing fallout from the notorious Libor affair.
The bank's shares sank 3.45 percent to 230.55 pence on the FTSE 100 index of leading companies, which was 0.27 percent higher at 5,865.56 points.
"The spectre of more damage to the bank's reputation in the form of further regulatory probes is weighing heavily on the shares in early trade," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.
The Libor scandal had erupted back in June, when Barclays was fined 290 million by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of European interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.
The affair led to the resignations of three Barclays senior board members, including chief executive Bob Diamond. He was replaced by Jenkins, who was formerly head of retail and business banking.
Libor is a flagship instrument used all over the world, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money. Euribor is the eurozone equivalent.
The Libor system was found to be open to abuse, with some traders lying about borrowing costs to boost trading positions or make their bank seem more secure.
The government launched plans earlier this month to make it a criminal offence to manipulate interbank Libor lending rates. It will also strip industry body the British Bankers' Association of its role in setting Libor.
Barclays will meanwhile stand trial over its manipulation of a key lending rate after a High Court judge ruled in London on Monday that a care-home company could sue for the alleged mis-selling of financial product
