LONDON (AP) — Barclays PLC said yesterday its 2008 net profit fell only one percent as a one-off gain from its cut-price purchase of the North American operations of Lehman Brothers helped shore up its finances.

However, Britain's third largest bank by assets warned that further asset write-downs — on top of the massive £8.1 billion ($11.9 billion) booked for 2008 — were likely and said executive directors would not be getting any bonuses.

Barclays, which brought forward its statement to soothe market fears about its exposure to bad loans and assets, said net profit attributable to shareholders during the year was £4.38 billion ($6.43 billion), down slightly on 2007's 4.42 billion. Before tax payments, Barclays said profit fell by 14 percent during the year to £6.1 billion from £7.1 billion the year before.

Profits were boosted by one-off gains such as a £2.3 billion boost on last September's acquisition of part of Lehman Brothers, the failed US investment bank.

For 2009, Barclays predicted another difficult year with recessions in Britain, Spain, South Africa and the US likely to raise loan loss rates.

In the increasingly difficult environment, chief executive John Varley said the bank's executive directors would receive no bonuses for 2008, and that payouts across the group would be "significantly lower" than in 2007.

Although Barclays did not take any money from the British government — opting to raise funds from the Middle East instead — it has benefited from credit guarantees and is likely to take part in other forms of public support to the sector, such as the British government's plan to insure the banks' toxic assets.

British Treasury chief Alistair Darling on Sunday launched a review of the banking industry which will also look at payment practices. Critics accused the government of failing to crack down on the controversial payouts amid mounting public anger over rewards for staff at institutions bailed out by the taxpayer.

For the future, Barclays said it was reviewing its compensation arrangements to ensure they "evolve appropriately."