The bank said the increase, in excess of 200%, reflected a reduced own credit charge of £125m compared to £4bn last year.
Chief executive Antony Jenkins said the results represented the “underlying strength of the group”.
He said: “All of our businesses are well positioned to take advantage of improvements in the global macro environment as we manage the group through a slow and gradual economic recovery.”
The retail and business banking arm of the group reported a pretax profit of £983m compared to £950m last year while the loan book increased slightly to £135bn from £135.4bn.
Customer deposits remained static at £133bn but the retail and business bank’s total assets fell from £159bn to £156bn.
Jenkins said he was “particularly pleased” with the results from the retail and business bank’s performance.
The amount that it has set aside to pay compensation for mis-sold personal protection insurance is unchanged at £3.95bn.
