Barclays reports sevenfold increase in profits

LONDON (AP) — Barclays, Britain's second largest bank, said Tuesday that second quarter profit increased sevenfold, boosted by earnings from investment banking and a 496 million pound ($774 million) gain on assets acquired from Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Net income rose to 1.15 billion pounds in the quarter ended June 30, from 161 million pounds in the year-earlier period.

The report was the first since John McFarlane took over as executive chairman and fired CEO Antony Jenkins after concluding Jenkins wasn't moving fast enough to cut costs and improve earnings.

While Barclays is performing well, "there is more that can be done to deliver better returns for shareholders, faster," McFarlane said Tuesday.