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Barclays PLC on Wednesday reported a fall in annual profit as a result of credit impairments, citing the ‘deteriorating macroeconomic forecast’. Shares were down 8.4% at 171.58 pence each on Wednesday morning in London. For 2022, the London-based bank posted pretax profit of £7.01 billion, down 14% from £8.19 billion the previous year. It booked credit impairment charges of £1.22 billion in the year, compared to credit impairment releases of £653 million in 2021. The charges reflected economic forecasts, Barclays said, and a gradual increase in delinquencies, partially offset by the ‘utilisation of macroeconomic uncertainty [post-model adjustments] and the release of Covid-19 related adjustments informed by refreshed scenarios’. Attributable profit was down 19% to £5.02 billion from £6.21 billion a year earlier. Total income was £25.0 billion, up 14% from £21.94 billion. In the Barclays UK division, full-year income amounted to £7.26 billion, up 11% from £6.53 billion a year earlier. Net interest income increased by 13% to £5.89 billion from £5.20 billion, with net interest margin standing at 2.86% compared to 2.52% in 2021. For the three months ended on December 31, total income was £5.80 billion, up 12% from £5.16 billion a year earlier. Pretax profit was down 8.3% to £1.31 billion from £1.43 billion. The bank declared a full-year dividend of 5.0 pence per share, taking its total dividend to 7.25p per share, up 19% from 6.1p in 2021. Barclays also plans to start a share buyback of up to £500 million, bringing the total share buybacks related to 2022 to £1.0 billion. Barclays added that 2022 total capital return is equivalent to 13.4 pence per share. Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan said: ‘Barclays performed strongly in 2022. Each business delivered income growth, with group income up 14%. We achieved our [return on tangible equity] target of over 10%, maintained a strong common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 13.9%, and returned capital to shareholders. We are cautious about global economic conditions, but continue to see growth opportunities across our businesses through 2023.’ Looking ahead, Barclays said that, after the CET1 ratio of 13.9% in 2022, it expects to operate in 13% to 14% range in 2023. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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