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Investing.com -- Barclays (LON:BARC) reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results on Wednesday and raised its outlook for net interest income, reaffirming confidence in its 2025 and 2026 financial targets.
The bank posted a pretax profit of £2.72 billion ($3.65 billion) for the first three months of the year, marking a 19% increase from the same period in 2023 and exceeding the £2.49 billion forecast compiled by the company.
Revenue reached £7.71 billion, ahead of expectations of £7.39 billion, supported by solid performance in fee and commission income and net interest income.
Barclays benefited from hedging strategies that helped offset the effects of falling interest rates, allowing it to sustain income growth despite central bank rate cuts.
Its investment banking division, which plays a key role in the bank’s U.S. expansion efforts, delivered £3.87 billion in revenue during the quarter.
“I am very pleased with our performance in Q125, which represents another strong quarter of execution,” said Barclays CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan. “We remain committed to and confident in delivering our previously announced financial and distribution targets for 2025 and 2026.”
The bank lifted its 2025 net interest income forecast to above £12.5 billion, up from its earlier projection of around £12.2 billion. It also raised expectations for its U.K. division, now targeting more than £7.6 billion, compared to its prior estimate of about £7.4 billion.
Return on tangible equity climbed to 14.0%, outperforming the consensus estimate of 12.9% and tracking ahead of Barclays’ goals for this year and next.