Barclay's first-half U.S. loss $427.5 million.

Barclays Bank PLC lost $427.5 million dollars in the United States in the first half of this year, versus an $82.5 million loss a year earlier, the bank said Thursday.

The London-based bank attributed the loss to substantially higher provisions for nonperforming property loans and to $90 million in losses at its home-lending unit, Barclays American/Mortgage. The value of the unit's purchased mortgage servicing rights declined because of heavy loan prepayments.

The bank added that nonperforming loans in the United States remain high. It expects to take large provisions in the second half of this year for real estate lending.

Separating Assets

Barclays has $254 billion of assets worldwide, including more than $33 billion in North America.

The group earned $336 million before taxes for the first six months, up from a $337.5 million loss over the previous six months.

In a move to separate its problem and so called nonstrategic assets from operations it seeks to develop, the bank last year placed $6.4 billion in U.S. assets under the management of Barclays de Zoete Wedd, the group's investment banking arm.

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