Barclays posts rise in third-quarter profit

Barclays reported a rise in third-quarter pre-tax profit as it benefited form a strong performance in its fixed trading division.

Pre-tax profit for the third quarter was up 35% from the same period a year ago to £837m as revenue from the fixed income division surged 40% to £947m. Excluding one-off items, profit came in at £1.7bn, surpassing analysts’ expectations of around £1.5bn.

Overall revenue in the third quarter was pretty much flat compared to the third quarter of last year at £5.5bn and the bank said it set aside £600m to compensate customers for mis-sold payment protection insurance.

For the nine months to the end of September, profit was down 10% to £2.9bn due to the disposal of the bank’s non-core businesses.

Chief executive Jes Staley said: "Our strategic priorities remain: strengthening our core businesses; closing Barclays Non-Core as fast as possible; progressing the sell down of our stake in Barclays Africa to a point where we can achieve regulatory deconsolidation; eliminating costs in both Core and Non-Core; dealing with legacy issues; and meeting our end state capital requirements.

“Taken together, the picture in the third quarter is one of strong progress against this agenda. Our Core businesses are performing well, Non-Core rundown is approaching the final lap toward closure, we are on top of costs, and our capital position is resilient with strong reasons for confidence in meeting our end state target. The growing momentum in attaining our strategic goals means we can feel optimistic of our prospects of completing the restructuring of Barclays - a restructuring to a simplified transatlantic, consumer, corporate and investment bank with the capacity to deliver sustainable high quality returns for shareholders. This quarter has seen us take another important stride toward that state."

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: "‘Barclays’ third quarter results are a bit of a curate’s egg, the top line in its core business is growing, but profits have been pegged back by one-off items. However, in the banking world, those one-off items do have a tendency to recur over and over again.

"Barclays still has work to do, but there’s an increasing amount of light at the end of the tunnel. However despite the bank’s international exposure, it is still vulnerable to poor economic conditions in the UK, so if we do get a Brexit-induced slowdown, Barclays will feel the burn."

At 1240 BST, the shares were up 2.1% to 185.60p.