A sign glows through a window, reflecting the Barclays head office in Canary Wharf, London, UK.
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LONDON – Barclays on Thursday reported first-quarter net profit to shareholders of 1.55 billion pounds ($1.93 billion), beating expectations and returning the British lender to profit amid a major strategic overhaul.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected net profit attributable to shareholders of £1.29 billion for the quarter, according to LSEG.
Net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $1.78 billion.
Barclays reported a net loss of £111 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to an operational reorganization designed to cut costs and improve efficiency.
This included a loss of £900 million from structural cost cutting measures, which the bank said was expected to result in total cost savings of around £500 million in 2024, with an expected payback period of less than two years.
The overhaul saw the business restructured into five operating divisions, separating the corporate and investment banking: Barclays UK, Barclays UK Corporate Bank, Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management, Barclays Investment Bank and Barclays US Consumer Bank.
The bank also promised to return £10 billion to shareholders between 2024 and 2026 through dividends and share buybacks.
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— CNBC’s Elliott Smith contributed to this report.