Barclays looks uncomfortably lop-sided – a taxpayer-backed UK retail bank dwarfed by a humungous and fast-growing global investment bank. The bank has yet to embrace quarterly reporting, let alone the detailed disclosure adopted by the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland. But the latest set of numbers once again underlines the skewed nature of Barclays’ expansion. By its own high standards, Barclays Capital’s growth was less impressive than in recent periods. Its top-line income increased by just £3.7bn, well down on the stellar £5.5bn recorded in the three months to June.

But the bigger picture is clearer: BarCap’s revenues have almost doubled in the first nine months, to reach £14.2bn, half the group’s top-line total for the period. John Varley, chief executive, envisages a bank split two-thirds between wealth management, retail banking and commercial banking on the one hand and one-third in investment banking on the other. In terms of profits, BarCap is less outsized. Its pre-tax profits of £1.4bn represented about 36 per cent of the £4.4bn total, excluding £435m made by Barclays Global Investors, sold to BlackRock. This proportion may also shrink further once provisions in global retail and commercial banking peak in the fourth quarter.