BARCLAYS yesterday reported profits up by more than a third last year at £7.14bn, as it kicked off the start of what is expected to be a record reporting season for the UK's biggest banks. The banking giant said the better-than-expected 35% rise in pre-tax profits was driven largely by its investment arm. Analysts had feared Barclays may not be on top of bad debts on unsecured lending, but the bank sought to allay market fears, saying the consumer credit performance for Barclaycard was beginning to improve. Barclays is the first of the "big five" banks to unveil results for 2006, contributing to combined profits expected to total more than £38bn. The group's UK retail banking arm saw pre-tax profits rise by 17% last year, to £1.2bn. Barclays said 2006 had been "an excellent year", beating analyst expectations for pre-tax profits despite bad debt troubles at its credit card business.