Barclays reveals plans for £5.8bn cash call

The group is to tap investors by issuing new shares at a discounted price as part of a fundraising to boost its balance sheet by another £12.8bn - on top of billions of pounds already being raised by the bank to build up a cushion against future financial shocks.

Details of the move came as half-year results also revealed an extra £2bn charge to cover compensation for mis-selling, including £1.35bn for payment protection insurance.

Excluding mis-selling provisions, underlying pre-tax profits fell 17 per cent to £3.6bn over the first six months of 2013 as the bank counted the cost of a group-wide restructure launched in the wake of its Libor rate-rigging settlement last year.