Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) reported a 16% increase in profit for the third quarter, beating forecasts, and raised some elements of its full-year outlook.
Group income of £6.5 billion in the quarter was up 5% on a year ago, with its investment bank delivering the strongest growth.
Investment bank income grew 6%, as it extracted higher fee income in advisory and debt and equity capital markets, offsetting lower income from corporate banking.
Barclays UK income was up 4%, as higher structural hedge income was partially offset by mortgage margin pressure.
The UK corporate bank was up 1% and the private banking and wealth management arm saw income decrease 3% due to “the non-repeat of a timing-related one-off” from the previous year offsetting growth in client balances.
Overall, Barclays' chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan hailed a return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 12.3% for the quarter and 11.5% for the nine months of the year so far, keeping the bank “on track” to deliver against the 2024 target of greater than 10%.
For the full year, he now expects net interest income, excluding the investment bank, to be greater than £11 billion, better than “circa £11 billion” before, with an improvement in Barclays UK interest income the key factor.
Net interest margin increased to 3.34% in the quarter, taking the nine-month average to 3.21%. The CET1 capital ratio was 13.8%.