HSBC and Barclays provided stark evidence that the UK’s banks have polarised between successful commercial operators and struggling part-nationalised ones, as the country’s two biggest banks reported robust third-quarter results.

Michael Geoghegan, HSBC’s chief executive, said “two very different types of banks [are emerging] from this crisis – the winners and the losers”. John Varley, Barclays’ chief, stressed the group’s “consistent profitability across the first three quarters of 2009, [showing] the resilience and diversification of our portfolio of businesses”.