BARCLAYS Bank yesterday unveiled profits of £4.6bn as part of the first slice of a £30bn haul expected from the UK's five biggest banking groups.

The record annual performance from Barclays was 20 per cent higher than 2003 and included profits of £2.47bn from its UK banking division.

In the coming days HSBC, Lloyds TSB, NatWest owner Royal Bank of Scotland owner and Halifax owner HBOS are expected to take the sector's annual profits for 2004 towards £30bn - the equivalent of £1,000 a second.

Much of Barclays' nine per cent improvement in UK profits was achieved in business banking, where annual earnings lifted by 19 per cent to £1.35bn. This was offset by a weaker result in the retail division - an area Barclays said it needed to improve after profits fell one per cent.

Barclays forecast a better showing in 2005, following its investment in more front-line staff, as well as better technology and infrastructure.

The company, which has more than 2,000 UK branches serving 10.7 million current account customers and 10.6 million savers, blamed the weaker UK retail showing on margins pressure on its mortgage business.

Elsewhere in the group, Barclaycard profits rose by five per cent to £801.

In the wealth management division earnings rose by 57 per cent to £451m.