Company Reports

Barclays reported a good second quarter with total income growing 16% to GBP 8.3 billion compared with last year. Good growth in the UK businesses and a strong performance in equities stood out.

Barclays operates what we believe to be a strong retail franchise underpinned by a market-leading share in credit cards in the UK. It also runs a bulge-bracket investment bank, one of the last full-service global investment banks headquartered in Europe. Lastly, Barclays operates an unsecured lending business in the US and a global wholesale banking operation.

SpaceX has filed for one of the largest IPOs in history, with Anthropic and OpenAI expected to follow in the most significant fundraising cycle in years. No European bank holds a lead equity arranger role; that honor belongs to five US banks.

Barclays reported first-quarter return on tangible equity of 13.5%, ahead of its 12.5% target for 2026.

European banks have declined around 10% from their highs as rising oil and gas prices and the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates fuel fears that loan defaults will rise.

Barclays closed 2025 with a return on tangible equity of 8.5% in the fourth quarter but hit its above 11% target for the full year. The bank also announced new targets until 2028, pointing toward further profitability improvements.

Barclays operates what we believe to be a strong retail franchise underpinned by a market-leading share in credit cards in the UK. It also runs a bulge-bracket investment bank, one of the last full-service global investment banks headquartered in Europe. Lastly, Barclays operates an unsecured lending business in the US and a global wholesale banking operation.

Barclays inched up its 2025 guidance and showed good third-quarter results, despite higher provisions related to the motor finance probe and its exposure to Tricolor in the US. The US consumer bank showed good growth, while the investment arm lagged peers on large mergers and acquisitions globally.

Barclays operates what we believe to be a strong retail franchise underpinned by a market-leading share in credit cards in the UK. It also runs a bulge-bracket investment bank, one of the last full-service global investment banks headquartered in Europe. Lastly, Barclays operates a credit card and current account business in the US and a global wholesale banking operation.

The UK Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeal decision related to the motor finance probe, ruling that motor dealers acting as credit brokers do not owe fiduciary duties to their customers.

Barclays reported second-quarter profits before tax of GBP 2,484 million, 11% ahead of consensus estimates collected by the bank prior to the release. A good quarter in the UK corporate bank segment and the investment bank drove a 3% above-consensus total income performance.

We raise our fair value estimate for Barclays to GBX 306 per share from GBX 290 after the bank reported a strong quarter in its investment bank and lifted its guidance for net interest income. The bank reported profits before impairments of GBP 3.362 billion, 11% ahead of company-collected consensus estimates. The strong performance was owed to 4% better-than-expected total income generation, with the investment bank carrying the baton. Importantly, much of the good performance in the investment bank came from more stable income streams such as financing and the international corporate bank, up 19% and 34% year over year, respectively.

Barclays operates what we believe to be a strong retail franchise underpinned by a market-leading share in credit cards in the UK. The international segment is dominated by a bulge-bracket investment bank, one of the last full-service global investment banks headquartered in Europe. It also includes a credit card and current account business in the US and a global wholesale banking operation.

Investors dumped European banks for a second day on April 4 as concern over US tariffs spreads. The 22 banks we cover declined by 11% over the last two days. UniCredit (minus 16%) and Barclays (minus 15%) led the decline, while Svenska Handelsbanken and Credit Agricole fared better, each down 7%.

Barclays reported fourth-quarter profits before tax of GBP 1.66 billion, 3% ahead of consensus estimates collected by the banking group prior to the release. Income generation was strong across the board, 4% ahead of consensus. Good performances in the investment bank and private bank and wealth management segment stood out positively. We raise our fair value estimate to GBX 290 per share primarily due to lifting our net interest income and investment banking income assumptions. Since our last model update, base rate cuts by the Bank of England have been less frequent than anticipated, allowing Barclays to lock in more of its structural hedge at higher rates. This should extend the positive contribution to net interest income for longer. Our no-moat rating is unchanged.

In the UK, Barclays operates what we believe to be a strong retail franchise underpinned by a market-leading share in credit cards. The international segment is dominated by a bulge-bracket investment bank, one of the last full-service global investment banks headquartered in Europe. It also includes a credit card and current account business in the US and a global wholesale banking operation.

Barclays reported a good third quarter. The bank raised its UK net interest income guidance to about GBP 6.5 billion from GBP 6.3 billion previously on slowing mix shifts in deposits, a slower base-rate-cut trajectory, and a continued strong structural hedge momentum. We maintain our GBX 230 per share fair value estimate and no economic moat rating.

Barclays reported good second-quarter results, with a return on tangible equity of 9.9%. Excluding the loss on the sale of its Italian mortgage book and German consumer finance business, returns would have been 11.8%. The investment bank performed well, with banking fees and underwriting as well as intermediation growing year on year 44% and 12%, respectively. We maintain our GBX 230 per share fair value estimate and no economic moat rating.

In the UK, Barclays operates what we believe to be a strong retail franchise underpinned by a market-leading share in credit cards. The international segment is dominated by a bulge-bracket investment bank, one of the last full-service global investment banks headquartered in Europe. It also includes a credit card and current account business in the US and a global wholesale banking operation. Both segments contribute about equally to income.

Barclays reported first-quarter profit before tax of GBP 2.3 billion, nearly 4% ahead of consensus estimates collected by the bank prior to the release. During the quarter, Barclays took its first steps on its new strategic path, which it believes can achieve structurally higher profitability. Of the GBP 1 billion in gross cost savings slated for 2024, the UK banking group achieved GBP 0.2 billion in the first quarter, getting off to a decent start. During the quarter, it also announced the acquisition of the Tesco retail banking business, the sale of its performing Italian mortgage book portfolio, as well as the sale of $1.1 billion in US credit card receivables. Operationally, performance was decent in the quarter. Barclays posted a return on tangible equity of 12.3%, ahead of its above 10% guidance for 2024. Compared with the quarter a year ago, traction across most business units slowed, which was, however, within expectations. We maintain our GBX 210 per share fair value estimate and no-moat rating.