LONDON — Barclays beat second-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday and boosted returns to shareholders, with its funding banking and equities companies posting document incomes.
The British lender posted a quarterly attributable profit of £2.1 billion ($2.9 billion), up from £90 million for the second quarter of 2020. Analysts had anticipated web reported revenue of £1.7 billion for the three months till the top of June, based on Refinitiv information.
Equities and funding banking charges have been up 38% and 27%, respectively, within the second quarter.
Barclays additionally introduced elevated capital distributions to shareholders, with a half-year dividend of two pence per share and an extra share buyback of as much as £500 million.
The financial institution has additionally seen a big discount in credit score loss provisions, as outlined in its first-quarter earnings report, and managed to launch practically £800 million from its credit score impairment provisions versus the £1.6 billion cost incurred for a similar interval of 2020.
“Our profitability, strong capital position and balance sheet have enabled us to increase capital distributions to shareholders,” CEO Jes Staley stated in an announcement, including that the financial institution is seeing a resurgence in exercise throughout its companies.
“Our CIB (corporate and investment banking) business is well-positioned to benefit from continued growth in debt and equity capital markets, with Global Markets and Investment Banking fees income up 36% since 2019, and our strong retail businesses are poised to support and benefit from a consumer recovery.”
Barclays shares gained 4.7% in early commerce.
Different highlights for the quarter:
- Group revenues hit £5.4 billion, fractionally up from £5.34 billion a yr in the past.
- CET 1 ratio, a measure of financial institution solvency, got here in at 15.1%, up from 14.2% a yr in the past.
The fastened revenue, currencies and commodities (FICC) buying and selling enterprise was down 37% throughout the primary half of the yr in comparison with a bumper first half of 2020, as coronavirus-induced market volatility drove a spike in buying and selling volumes.
Barclays has beforehand indicated that it expects prices to rise in 2021 in comparison with the earlier yr, because of coronavirus-related bills, an actual property evaluation, additional structural price motion and pay will increase.
