Barclays shares briefly suspended as bank announces drop in profits and dividend cut

Shares in Barclays were briefly suspended after the bank announced a fall in profits and its intention to cut dividends.

Underlying annual profits fell 2% to £5.4bn for 2015 and the bank announced it would be cutting the total dividend payment from 6.5p in 2015 to 3p for the next two years.

Shares in the bank plunged as much as 11% following the news - seeing trading in the in the stock briefly suspended for the second time in less than a month.

The bank announced a further £1.45 billion provision for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling.

It also confirmed it had awarded former chief executive Antony Jenkins, who was fired last July, an annual bonus of £505,000 for 2015.

Setting out his vision for the future of Barclays, new chief executive Jes Staley announced the bank wanted to form two main core divisions - Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate and International.

He also said the bank would be selling down its 62.3% stake in its Africa business over the next two to three years.

Mr Staley, who replaced Mr Jenkins in December, insisted the bank's performance in 2015 showed Barclays "is fundamentally on the right path, and is, at its core, a very good business".

The bank said it awarded staff bonuses - including other incentives - of £1.7 billion for 2015, down from £1.9 billion the year before.

This included £976 million in bonuses across its investment banking business, down from £1 billion in 2014.

But it said £661 million of bonuses for 2015 across the group were deferred, while the investment bank deferred £579 million of its awards for the year.