Barclays (BARC.L) posted a forecast-beating rise in profits in the third quarter, with income from its investment bank leading growth.
The bank reported a 23% increase in attributable profits, which is owed to shareholders, to nearly £1.6bn. This beat consensus forecasts of nearly £1.3bn, according to figures provided by the bank.
Meanwhile, profits before tax rose 18% year-on-year in the third quarter to £2.2bn ($2.8bn), also coming in ahead of estimates of £1.97bn.
The company reported a 14% decline in credit impairment charges to £374m, compared to the same period last year.
Barclays said it had delivered a further £300m in cost savings in the quarter, resulting in year-to-date savings of £700m, putting it on track to deliver around £1bn in efficiencies for the year. Barclays announced a structural overhaul of its business back in February, with the aim of cutting costs by £2bn.
C S Venkatakrishnan, group CEO of Barclays, said: “We continue to be focused on disciplined execution of our three year plan and are encouraged with progress to date. Whilst there is more work to do, the Group is on track to achieve its target of greater than 12% RoTE in 2026.”
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Total income across the business was up 5% year-on-year to £6.5bn, with the most growth seen in its investment banking division, where income had increased 6% to nearly £2.9bn.
Barclays shares climbed nearly 3% on Thursday morning, with the stock trading at around nine-year highs.
Venkatakrishnan said its acquisition of Tesco (TSCO.L) Bank’s retail banking business was set to complete on 1 November.
In its first-half results, Barclays reported an 8% fall in profits before tax to £4.2bn in the first six months of the year, but this also came in ahead of forecasts.
The bank announced a share buyback of up to £750m and a half-year dividend of 2.9p per share.
Barclays was the second major UK bank to report quarterly results, with Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) having kicked things off on Wednesday. Lloyds reported a slight dip in pre-tax profits in the third quarter, down 2% at more than £1.8bn, but this beat consensus estimates consensus estimates of £1.622bn, according to figures supplied by the bank.
Lloyds reaffirmed its guidance for 2024, expecting operating costs of around £9.4bn and guided to a return on tangible equity of 13%.
NatWest (NWG.L) is next up, with the bank set to release its third-quarter results on Friday morning.
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