Barclays Bank’s UK headquarters are located in Canary Wharf, London.
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LONDON – Barclays on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 111 million pounds ($139.8 million) as the British lender announced a wide-ranging strategic review.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected net profit attributable to shareholders to be 60.95 million pounds for the quarter, as Barclays embarks on a major restructuring plan to reverse falling profits, LSEG data showed.
For the full year, attributable net profit was £4.27bn, down from £5.023bn in 2022 and below consensus expectations of £4.59bn.
Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said in a statement that the bank would announce an additional £1 billion in share buybacks and set out a new three-year plan to further improve its operations and financial performance.
Barclays took a £900m hit in the fourth quarter from structural cost-cutting measures, which are expected to reduce total costs by around £500m this year, with a payback period of less than two years.
Other highlights include:
- Group revenue for the fourth quarter was £5.6bn, down 3% on the same period last year.
- Credit impairment charges were £552m, up from £498m in Q4 2022.
- The common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio, an indicator of a bank’s financial strength, was 13.8%, down from 14% in the previous quarter.
- Full-year return on tangible equity (RoTE), excluding fourth-quarter restructuring charges, was 10.6%.
Barclays’ traditionally strong Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB), particularly its fixed income, currency and commodity trading arm, saw momentum fade in 2023 as market volatility eased.
The bank announced on Tuesday a major operational overhaul, including significant cost cuts, asset sales and restructuring of business units, while also saying it would return £10bn to shareholders between 2024 and 2026 through dividends and share buybacks. promised.
The business will now separate corporate and investment banking into five business units: Barclays UK, Barclays UK Corporate Bank, Barclays Private Bank & Wealth Management, Barclays Investment Bank and Barclays US Consumer Bank.
“This reorganization will result in enhanced and more detailed disclosure of each business unit’s performance, as well as greater accountability from an operational and management perspective,” the bank said in a report. ing.
This is breaking news and will be updated soon.
