barclays will ge coming out with trading update on 07.05.2009 It is expected to report profits higher than market expectations.

A good Buy Medium to Long term

Never thought I'd say it, but LLOY looks to be one of the better bets as far as banks go.

BARC have slashed the Divi in more than half.

Summary from Shore Capital today:
"Barclays has published a pretty dismal set of full year results to 31st December 2015 with adjusted pre-tax profit of £5.4bn (Shore: £5.5bn; consensus: £5.8bn) falling short of our own and company-collated consensus expectations primarily due to weaker than anticipated income performance. In addition, the group took another £2.1bn of below-the-line charges in Q4 including £1.45bn for UK customer redress (PPI etc) which resulted in a statutory pre-tax profit of £2.1bn (Shore: £2.3bn) and a Q4 loss of £1.9bn.

While profitability disappointed, capital ratios came in ahead of expectations with a period core tier 1 ratio of 11.4% (Shore: 11.1%) and leverage ratio of 4.5% (Shore: 4.1%). However, TNAV per share was 15p weaker than we forecast at 275p (Shore: 290p). The dividend per share was held at 6.5p (Shore: 6.5p), as previously guided by management, but management has announced that it plans to cut the full year dividend to 3p per share in 2016F and 2017F in order to conserve capital.

Management has also announced a package of strategic measures to improve performance:

In addition to revising guidance on the dividend, management has also confirmed that it plans to exit its African operations (BAGL*) over the course of the next two years which, combined with the dividend cut, is expected to add around 1.0ppts to the core tier 1 ratio, with management targeting operating with a ratio 1.0-1.5ppts above the regulatory minimum in due course. We note that the minimum requirement appears to have increased by 1.1ppts to 11.7% (from 10.6% previously), implying a new minimum core tier 1 ratio requirement of 12.7%-13.2%. This is much more in line with the 13% minimum that peers are targeting.

Management has also announced that a further £8bn of RWAs will be transferred into non-core in, what it describes as, a ‘one time expansion’ …. hmmm. That said, management is still guiding that it can reduce non-core RWAs down to £20bn by the end of 2017, which is unchanged.

Management has set a new target of reducing new core bank costs to £12.8bn (ex BAGL) for 2016F versus £14.5bn (inc BAGL) previously. Barclays African operations had total costs of £2.3bn in 2015, so it looks to us like the cost guidance is actually slightly worse on a like for like basis. We await further clarification on this. The target is for a group cost:income ratio of less than 60% in due course versus 69% (adjusted) in 2015A.

It looks also like return on equity guidance has been dropped, with management now simply expecting the core and group ROTE to coverge over time with the aim of achieving an ‘attractive return for shareholders’, but we cannot see where this has been defined.

Overall, this is a pretty disappointing update from Barclays and we suspect the market will not be too impressed by the changes to guidance or the measures being taken to improve performance. Cost cutting does not seem to be aggressive enough, to us, and the lack of formal guidance on ROTE is a little worrying. Based on the last reported TNAV per share of 275p the shares are trading on a P/TNAV of just 0.6x with a prospective dividend yield (based on 3p of DPS) of under 2%. The stock may seem optically cheap on P/TNAV metrics, but we continue to prefer the better capitalised Lloyds^ (LLOY, Buy at 72p) and RBS^ (RVS, Buy at 224p). HOLD."

2 Mar JP Morgan... 250.00 Overweight
2 Mar Goldman Sachs 310.00 Conviction Buy
2 Mar Deutsche Bank 255.00 Buy

Berenberg today reaffirms its hold investment rating on Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) and cut its price target to 170p (from 200p).

Bouncing back nicely .

Nomura today downgrades its investment rating on Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) to neutral (from buy) and cut its price target to 185p (from 210p).

Q3 2016 Results Announcement

Strong Core business performance with underlying double digit Return on Tangible Equity

· Core profit before tax increased 4% to £4,898m reflecting diversification benefits from consumer and wholesale customers and clients, geographies and products, and the appreciation of USD and EUR against GBP

· Double digit Core RoTE of 10.7% (Q315 YTD: 12.9%) excluding notable items based on an increased average tangible equity base of £40bn (Q315 YTD: £36bn) with a basic earnings per share contribution of 19.4p (Q315 YTD: 21.3p) excluding notable items

· Strong Barclays UK RoTE of 20.0% (Q315 YTD: 23.2%) excluding notable items. Net interest margin (NIM) increased 7bps to 3.63% on increased customer deposit balances, offset by lower interchange fee income in Barclaycard Consumer UK and higher credit impairment charges following a one-off impact from a management review of the cards portfolio impairment modelling

· Double digit Barclays International RoTE of 10.5% (Q315 YTD: 11.5%) excluding notable items. Strong growth in Consumer, Cards and Payments products and encouraging CIB performance, particularly in Q316

· Group profit before tax decreased 10% to £2,900m driven by the acceleration of Non-Core rundown resulting in a 33% increase in loss before tax to £1,998m

· Group RoTE decreased to 4.4% (Q315 YTD: 5.8%)

· Tangible net asset value per share decreased modestly to 287p (June 2016: 289p) in the quarter driven by the UKRF defined benefit pension net assets moving from a £0.1bn surplus to a £1.1bn deficit and £600m of provisions for UK customer redress, partially offset by favourable currency translation reserve movements and profit generated in the period

Another good day here ..

Having another good run the last few days .

StockMarketWire.com
Barclays posts pre-tax profits of £3,230m for the year to the end of December - up from £1,146m last time - but the dividend of 3.0p per share is down from 6.5p in 2015.

The group said the core business performed well reflecting the benefits of diversification across customers and clients, geographies and products, with a 4% growth in profit before tax excluding notable items to £6,436m, delivering a 9.4% return on average allocated tangible equity that was £4bn higher at £41bn.

Return on average allocated tangible equity (RoTE) excluding notable items in Barclays UK was 19.3% and in Barclays International was 8.0%.

The group said the profit before tax of £3,230m drove strong organic capital ratio growth with 100bps of CET1 ratio accretion to 12.4%.

In Q416, the CET1 ratio increased 80bps through reduced RWAs, and an increase in reserves, including from the £1.1bn improvement in the deficit of the UK Retirement Fund (UKRF) defined benefit pension scheme.

The group said it was on track to meet revised end-state CET1 capital ratio of 150bps to 200bps above the minimum regulatory level.

Group chief executive James E Staley said: ""A year ago we laid out our intention to accelerate the restructuring of Barclays and refocus our business as a transatlantic, consumer, corporate and investment bank, anchored in London and New York.

"We have made strong progress against this agenda in 2016.

"Our Core businesses, Barclays UK and Barclays International, are doing well, with profit before tax excluding notable items up 4% to £6.4bn.

"Barclays UK produced an impressive RoTE of 19.3% excluding notable items, and continues to deliver market-leading innovation for customers, including voice security, contactless cash, a new direct investing platform, and in airing the first fraud prevention TV ad campaign from a major UK bank.

"Barclays International delivered a RoTE of 8.0% excluding notable items. We brought further focus to the Corporate and Investment Bank, with income growing 6%, solidifying our position in the bulge bracket. We also saw strong growth in Consumer, Cards and Payments, as income increased 21%, driven by improvements in all key businesses.

"Combined, the Core RoTE, excluding notable items, was 9.4%.

"Accelerating the closure of Barclays Non-Core is a key part of realising the potential of Barclays.

"In 2016 we reduced Non-Core RWAs by £22bn, with £12bn of that reduction coming in the final quarter alone.

"Today, we are announcing that we will close Non-Core on 30 June 2017, six months earlier than previously targeted.

"We reduced our ownership of Barclays Africa with an initial sale of 12.2% in May. In the fourth quarter we agreed with local management and submitted to regulators our proposed separation arrangements for Barclays Africa.

"This is a key milestone before a further reduction in our stake at the appropriate time.

"The progress on our priorities resulted in organic profit generation which strengthened our CET1 capital ratio by 100 basis points in 2016 to 12.4%.

"This puts us well on track to meet our end-state target and we are well positioned to absorb headwinds over the next few years.

"Certain legacy conduct issues remain and we intend to make further progress on them.

"In short, we have accomplished a lot in a year."

What is the market up to?

Waited for drop-back to 232, congratulated myself and bought.

Why, why, why?

Stuck in a range between 220 - 240p since mid Dec.

Barclays down after its investment bank division misses out on a bond trading boom that saw earnings surge at its Wall Street rivals

but does that really warrant a 5% drop when overall it's profits smashed forecasts?
I'ld have thought not

StockMarketWire.com
Barclays' first quarter group profit before tax more than doubled to £1,682m driven by improved profitability in the core business and materially lower losses in the non-core segment of £241m (Q116: £815m).

Core basic earnings per share increased to 7.2p.

Barclays saud UK RoTE improved to 21.6% (Q116: 20.5%), with 2% income growth driving an improved cost: income ratio of 52% (Q116: 53%).

Net interest margin (NIM) improved 7bps to 3.69% with net interest income increasing 1% to £1,511m

Other highlights:
- Barclays International RoTE improved to 12.5% (Q116: 9.5%) as profit before tax increased 32% to £1,356m. Consumer, Cards and Payments RoTE was 36.4% (Q116: 23.4%) while the Corporate and Investment Bank RoTE improved to 8.2% (Q116: 7.3%)

- Basic earnings per share in respect of continuing operations increased to 6.1p (Q116: 2.2p)

- Attributable loss in respect of discontinued operation of £801m due to an impairment of Barclays' holding in BAGL allocated to acquisition goodwill of £884m

- Group RoTE decreased to 1.8% (Q116: 3.8%) due to a 7.2% dilutive impact from the impairment of Barclays' holding in BAGL allocated to acquisition goodwill

- Tangible net asset value per share increased to 292p (December 2016: 290p) primarily due to profits generated in the period

Group chief executive James E Staley said: "This has been another quarter of strong progress towards the completion of the restructuring of Barclays.

"Group profit before tax more than doubled compared to Q1 of 2016, and our core businesses continued to perform very well, producing a combined return on tangible equity of 11%, on an average tangible equity base that is £5bn higher year-on-year.

"Within that, Barclays UK's and Barclays International's RoTEs both improved to 21.6% and 12.5% respectively.

"Non-core rundown carries on apace, with materially lower losses, and RWAs reducing by a further £5bn to £27bn in the quarter. We remain well on track to close the unit on the 30th of June.

"Crucially, in this quarter, as we reduce that Non-Core drag, we can see more clearly than ever before the growing convergence between our Core RoTE of 11%, and the Group RoTE of 9%, excluding the one-off impairment in respect of our African operations.

"That convergence has been the central strategic objective in the accelerated strategy we have been pursuing over the past year.

"Our group cost to income ratio has improved to 62%, compared to 76% for the first quarter of 2016, driven by a marked reduction in Non-Core costs and positive jaws in the Core.

"On Africa, we await approval for the separation arrangements already agreed with local management, following which we will be able to make further progress towards regulatory deconsolidation.

"The earnings power of Barclays enabled us to take actions in the quarter including the redemption of US dollar preference shares, the purchase of shares for employee awards, and pension contributions, while still improving our CET1 ratio to 12.5% through organic capital generation, and that is pleasing.

"We are now just two months away from completing the restructuring of Barclays as a Transatlantic Consumer, Corporate and Investment Bank and there is further good reason in this quarter's performance to feel optimistic for our prospects."

StockMarketWire.com
Barclays' first half group profit before tax increased 13% to £2,341m following materially lower losses in non-core of £647m (H116: £1,904m).

Core profit before tax fell by 25% to £2,988m impacted by charges for PPI of £700m (H116: £400m) and the non-recurrence of the £615m gain on disposal of Barclays' share of Visa Europe Limited in H116.

Other highlights:
- Barclays UK RoTE of 4.6% (H116: 13.6%) and cost: income ratio of 72% (H116: 61%) reflected charges for PPI of £700m (H116: £400m). Net interest margin (NIM) improved 10bps to 3.69%, with net interest income increasing 2% to £3,045m

- Barclays International RoTE of 12.4% (H116: 14.3%) reflected RoTE of 28.0% (H116: 50.9%) in Consumer, Cards and Payments and an improved RoTE of 9.7% (H116: 8.4%) in the Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB)

- Loss after tax in respect of discontinued operation of £2,195m included an impairment of Barclays' holding in BAGL of £1,090m and a loss on the sale of 33.7% of BAGL's issued share capital of £1,435m, primarily due to recycling of currency translation reserve losses to the income statement

- Group basic loss per share of (6.6p) (H116: earnings of 6.9p) with earnings per share in respect of continuing operations of 7.1p (H116: 6.0p). Excluding the loss on the sale of 33.7% of BAGL's issued share capital, the impairment of Barclays' holding in BAGL and charges for PPI of £700m, earnings per share were 11.8p

- Tangible net asset value per share decreased to 284p (December 2016: 290p) as profit from continuing operations was offset by decreases across reserves

Group chief executive James E Staley, said: "The second quarter saw us complete two critically important planks of our strategy; both of them ahead of schedule.

"First, we reduced our majority shareholding in Barclays Africa Group Limited to a level which allows us to apply for regulatory deconsolidation, and we expect to achieve that in 2018.

"We have permission to apply proportional consolidation to our reduced shareholding, which means that our CET1 ratio stands at 13.1% today, within our end-state target range.

"We will realise a further c.26bps uplift resulting from the sale.

"Second, we completed the accelerated rundown of our Non-Core unit to below our target of £25bn in Risk Weighted Assets, allowing us to close it 6 months early and incorporate the residual assets back into the Core.

"Accomplishing both of these milestones marks an end to the restructuring of the Barclays Group, and brings forward the date when our shareholders can benefit from the full earnings power of this business.

"That power is evident once again in the performance reported today. At the half year, Group profit before tax increased 13% to £2,341m. Our strong businesses, Barclays UK and Barclays International, posted attractive Returns on Tangible Equity of 20.4% - excluding the provision for PPI - and 12.4% respectively.

"Our business is now radically simplified, the restructuring is complete, our capital ratio is within our end-state target range, and while we are also working to put conduct issues behind us, we can now focus on what matters most to our shareholders: improving Group returns.

"We have accordingly established a new target today which is to achieve a greater than 10% Group Return on Tangible Equity over time." Finally we will, at the full year results early next year, provide investors with an updated capital management policy for the Group."

Third quarter profits at Barclays were lower than expected as its investment banking business faced difficult markets but an improvement in the UK bank and the consumer credit arm. Pretax profit of £1.11bn was short of the consensus forecast of £1.43bn.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5718724

What a slapping, down -7.4% on that news!