British bank Barclays on Friday announced soaring profits in the first quarter as it slashed bad debt provisions set aside during the Covid crisis. Profit after tax almost trebled to £1.7 billion ($2.4 billion, 2.0 billion euros) in the first three months of the year compared with the first quarter in 2020, Barclays said in a statement. Money set aside for soured loans dived to £55 million from £2.1 billion a year earlier. Bad debt charges during the quarter have also fallen sharply at Barclays' major UK rivals HSBC, Llloyds and NatWest. "While evidence of recovery is encouraging, we have continued to take a cautious view of the impact of the pandemic on the business," said chief executive Jes Staley. rfj/bcp/lth