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Barclays Bank has become the latest high street lender to report strong half-year results, with profits at the bank driven by a "record" performance by its investment bank unit.

The group's overall pre-tax profits climbed 12 per cent to £4.1 billon over the first half of the year.

Profits at investment bank Barclays Capital rose 33 per cent "due to a very strong income performance driven by continued strong growth across asset classes and regions", the company said.

Barclays' UK retail banking business also reported a nine per cent rise in profits to £651 million, although the company acknowledged that income growth was partially offset by settlements made with customers in regard to overdraft fees.

A total of £87 million was refunded to Barclays customers who claimed that they had been overcharged for exceeding their overdrafts during the period, the bank said.

The amount paid back by Barclays in regard to overdraft fees was lower than the £116 million reported by rival HSBC this week, but higher than the £79 million returned by HBOS and £39 million paid by Lloyds TSB.

Barclays added that impairment charges for its retail banking arm also dropped by nine per cent to £277 million, down from £306 million reported in 2006, as a result of lower levels of arrears on consumer loans.

"Barclays made good progress on all key strategic priorities and delivered another very strong set of results for shareholders," said Barclays chief executive John Varley.

"Double-digit growth in earnings and dividends reflects an outstanding performance from Barclays Capital, good profit growth in UK banking, an improvement in UK unsecured impairment and strong investment across the business," he added.

Impairment charges were also down at Barclaycard and the credit card company's headline profit was down 17 per cent over the first half of the year. Barclays said the drop was a result of the impact of property gains reported during the same period of last year and a loss on the disposal of part of the Monument portfolio in the first half of 2007.

Meanwhile Barclays has stressed that it is still confident of succeeding in its bid to takeover ABN Amro.

The board of the Dutch bank has withdrawn its recommendation of Barclays' £43 billion offer, which is lower than a second bid put forward by a consortium backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In a conference call with reports following the publication of today's results, Mr Varley said he was confident in the bank's ability to merge with ABN Amro, but acknowledged that securing the deal would depend on its share price over the coming weeks.