Barclays has set out plans to shift to a quarterly share buyback after the firm recorded a surge in total income for the third quarter.
The FTSE 100 titan netted £7.2bn in total income, breezing past as internal analyst consensus of £7bn. The figure was also up nine per cent year-on-year.
The bank said it plans to move to a quarterly share buyback with plans to return as part of its plan to return £10bn to shareholders by 2026.
In its third-quarter posting, Barclays launched a £500m share buyback.
This came despite the firm near-quadrupling its motor finance provisions to £325m with an extra £235m set aside.
The move follows suit with Lloyds Banking Group, Close Brothers and Bank of Ireland who have all upped their provisions.
Barclays’ fresh provisions weighed on third-quarter profit before tax which came in at £2.1bn – falling in line with analyst expectations, but falling seven per cent year-on-year. For the year-to-date the lender has pocketed £7.3bn.
The lender also made a £110m “single name” credit impairment charge in its investment banking arm.
But the firm upgraded its return on equity expectations to greater than 11 per cent for the coming year, due to better than expected income and the acceleration of its cost-cutting regime.
Barclays boss in cost-cutting overhaul
The bank’s chief CS Venkatkrishnan, known as Venkat, is in the midst of a three-year plan that targets a reduced reliance on the lender’s investment bank.
In a post on LinkedIn last year, Venkat outlined financial targets including a return on tangible equity in excess of 12 per cent and the goal to return over £10bn to shareholders by 2026.
Barclays was reported to have called in global consultancy giant McKinsey earlier this year as part of its bid to identify cost-saving areas across its investment banking arm.
Consultants were tasked with identifying duplication of work and whether tasks can be automated.
As part of further cost-cutting measures, Barclays offloaded its German consumer finance business in July 2024.
The move, completed in February 2025, released around €4bn (£3.4bn) in risk weighted assets and increased the bank’s CET1 ratio – a key measure of a lender’s financial health – by ten basis points.