Signage reflected in the window of Barclays headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, UK
Bloomberg |
LONDON – Barclays Bank reported first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.55 billion pounds ($1.93 billion) Thursday, beating expectations and enabling the British bank to turn a profit amid a major strategic shift.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.29 billion pounds for the quarter, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
Net profit for the first quarter of 2023 was US$1.78 billion.
Barclays Bank reported a net loss of £111 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to operational restructuring aimed at cutting costs and improving efficiency.
This includes a £900m hit from structural cost-cutting measures, which the bank says will deliver total cost savings of around £500m in 2024, with a payback period of less than two years.
The restructuring restructures the business into five operating divisions, separating corporate and investment banks, including: Barclays UK, Barclays UK Corporate Banking, Barclays Private Banking and Wealth Management, Barclays Investment Banking and Barclays US Consumer Banking.
The bank has pledged to return £10bn to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks between 2024 and 2026.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
—CNBC’s Elliott Smith contributed to this report.
