By Lawrence White and Stefania Spezzati
LONDON (Reuters) -Barclays’ first-half profit rose by a better-than-expected 23%, the British bank said on Tuesday, as its markets business reaped bumper returns from the frenzied trading activity sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
Pretax profit for the January-June period totalled 5.2 billion pounds ($6.9 billion), above analysts’ average forecast of 4.96 billion pounds.
The bank also announced an expected share buyback of 1 billion pounds and a half-year dividend of 3 pence per share, equating to 1.4 billion pounds of total capital distributions to shareholders, up 21% from the year before.
The earnings update from the Britain and U.S.-focused lender saw its investment bank lift overall returns, even as it shifts spending away from that unit to refocus on its domestic retail and corporate banking business.
“We remain on track to achieve the objectives of our three-year plan, delivering structurally higher and more stable returns for our investors,” CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan said in the statement.
The bank’s results were overall ahead of expectations and showed its 2026 target for a greater than 12% return on tangible equity looks increasingly achievable, Jonathan Pierce, analyst at Jefferies, said.
Barclays shares rose 0.2% in early trading, in line with slim gains in the benchmark FTSE 100 index.
The lender also said the financial impact of Britain’s probe into how banks disclosed motor finance commissions could be “materially different” to the 90 million pounds it has already provided for.
Lenders are awaiting the outcome of a Supreme Court ruling on the probe, due on Friday.
INVESTMENT BANK BOOST FROM TURBULENT TRADING
Barclays’ results followed Wall Street rivals such as Goldman Sachs which reported bumper second quarter earnings, as turbulent markets boosted trading.
The British bank’s equities income rose 25% compared with an average 18% gain for the top five U.S. banks according to a Reuters calculation based on company statements.
Barclays said revenue from trading fixed income, currencies and commodities, its traditional strength, grew 26%, against an average 14% increase for those rivals Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Investment banking fee income from advising on deals fell 16% for Barclays, compared with a 13% average gain for its Wall Street competitors.
($1 = 0.7492 pounds)
(Reporting By Lawrence White and Stefania Spezzati; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
