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Barclays PLC on Wednesday said it delivered a "strong" third quarter, as its investment bank was boosted by a surging performance from its Global Markets business.
The London-based blue chip lender reported pretax profit in the three months to September 30 of £1.97 billion, up 5.9% from £1.86 billion a year prior.
Barclays booked a credit impairment charge of £381 million in the quarter, widened from £120 million the year before. For the first nine months of the year, the bank was hit by a credit impairment charge of £722 million, as opposed to benefiting from a £622 million credit release a year ago.
Total income rose 8.8% to £5.95 billion from £5.47 billion, as income at its Barclays UK unit increased by 17% to £1.92 billion from £1.64 billion while Barclays International income was 3.3% higher at £4.07 billion from £3.94 billion.
In the quarter, net interest income surged 58% to £3.07 billion from £1.94 billion, but net fee, commission & other income fell 18% to £2.88 billion from £3.53 billion.
Within its Barclays International unit, its Corporate & Investment Bank business saw Global Markets income rise 15% to £1.79 billion from £1.56 billion, with Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities growing 93% to £1.55 billion from £803 million, but Equities fell 68% to £246 million from £757 million. Investment Banking fees fell 45% to £533 million from £971 million.
Chief Executive Coimbatore Venkatakrishnan said: "Our performance in FICC was particularly strong and we continued to build momentum in our consumer businesses in the UK and US."
In Barclays UK, total income was up 17% to £1.92 billion from £1.64 billion, aided by its net interest margin improving to 3.01% from 2.49%.
Within Barclays UK, Personal Banking income was up 22% to £1.21 billion from £990 million, Barclaycard Consumer UK slipped 3% to £283 million from £293 million and Business Banking was up 19% to £421 million from £355 million.
Barclays's group cost-to-income ratio improved to 60% from 65%. The bank targets to further lower the ratio.
Operating costs widened by 14% to £3.94 billion from £3.45 billion. For 2022, Barclays expects total operating expenses to widen by 16% to £16.7 billion from 14.44 billion in 2021.
Looking forward, the bank said: "Diversified income streams position the group well for the current economic and market environment including rising interest rates".
Barclays is targeting a return of tangible equity of more than 10% in 2022, compared to 13.4% in 2021. It ended the quarter with a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 13.8% and for 2022 aims for a CET1 ratio of 13% to 14%, compared to 15.1% in 2021.
The bank ended the quarter with a loan book of £413.7 billion, up 14% from £361.5 billion at the start of the year and up 17% from £353.0 billion at the same point the year before.
Venkatakrishnan added: "We are ready to provide support for customers and clients facing an uncertain economic environment and higher cost pressures. Whether helping retail customers to manage their finances or corporate clients navigate markets volatility, we will continue to be focused on meeting their needs."
Barclays shares fell 1.1% to 148.62 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
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