At Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays, analysts estimate
that profits could have fallen by about 40pc to just over £2bn in the first
half of the year compared with the same period in 2010.

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to report on Friday a more than halving in
profits in its global banking and markets business to £1.3bn, while at HSBC
wholesale banking profits are forecast to have decreased by nearly 20pc to
£2.8bn.

“It’s looking really horrid across the street. You hear anecdotally that
a lot of people have lost a lot of money, so I think second-quarter results
could be pretty bad,” said one London-based trader.

Last month, US investment bank Goldman Sachs reported a 64pc drop in second
quarter fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) revenues versus the
first quarter, while on average US banks saw a 35pc fall quarter-on-quarter
in FICC revenues, according to research by Citigroup.

Shares in Goldman Sachs hit a 12-month low last month.