One Churchill Place skyscraper, the Barclays Plc headquarters, at Canary Wharf in London, U.K., on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021.
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British lender Barclays reported a profit on Wednesday as it announced a surprise £500 million ($667 million) share buyback.
“We have been robustly and consistently generating capital for our shareholders consecutively over the last nine quarters,” CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan said in a statement.
“Consequently, we have decided to bring forward a portion of our full-year distribution plans, with a £500m share buyback announced today and we now plan to move to quarterly share buyback announcements. Our consistent and strong delivery has laid the foundations for greater performance beyond 2026, and I look forward to sharing updated targets to 2028 alongside our FY25 Results.”
It comes despite pre-tax profit for the third quarter coming in at £2.1 billion, slightly below analysts’ expectations and marking a 7% decline from the same period in 2024.
Return on Tangible Equity for the quarter hit 10.6%, down from 12.3% a year earlier, while earnings per share came in at 10.4 pence.
Income in the investment banking division increased by 8% year-on-year.
Strong investment banking returns have helped propel European financial stocks upward this year, with the Stoxx 600 Banks Index gaining more than 55% over the course of 2025 so far. Barclays shares have surged over 35% year-to-date.
Across the Atlantic, industry heavyweights JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs also reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings last week, with both companies’ results bolstered by earnings beats in their investment banking units.
The sector has been in the spotlight stateside after fears mounted over the possibility of bad loans on Wall Street. The jitters reached European banking stocks on Friday, although shares quickly recovered amid confidence that there is no systemic issue.
