High street bank Barclays has seen its profits for the first nine months of the year fall by almost one fifth, after £6.2bn of charges to cover bad debts undermined substantial profits.

The bank's pre-tax profit for the nine months to the end of September totalled £4.542bn, down 19% from last year.

Barclays' results come after rival Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) last week reported a pre-tax loss of £2.2bn for the three months to 30 September.

HSBC is due to report its third-quarter results later. Unlike RBS, neither Barclays nor HSBC have needed direct government support.

While Barclays' profits for the nine months fell, its revenues were up 26% from a year earlier to £23.8bn.

Barclays chief executive John Varley said the results showed "the resilience and diversification" of the bank's portfolio of businesses.