Barclays Mulls Further Cost-Cutting after 1Q Income Slump
April 25 2019 - 1:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Adam Clark
Barclays PLC (BARC.LN) said Thursday it may need to slash
additional costs to meet its returns targets, following a difficult
first quarter for its investment bank.
The U.K. bank made a pretax profit of 1.48 billion pounds ($1.91
billion), swinging from a loss in the year-earlier quarter. Its net
profit came to GBP.104 billion.
Analysts expected pretax profit of GBP1.57 billion and net
profit of GBP1.04 billion, according to company-compiled
consensus.
Total income fell 2% to GBP5.25 billion, and net operating
income dropped 5% to GBP4.80 billion, missing consensus
expectations. Barclays was hit by a 6% slump in income in the
International division, as the Corporate-and-Investment bank
suffered from a slowdown in trading, partially offset by cuts to
compensation.
Barclays reiterated its target of a return on tangible equity of
more than 9% in 2019 and 10% in 2020. The bank said it may need to
cut additional costs to boost returns, having previously guided for
annual costs of GBP13.6 billion to GBP13.9 billion.
Activist investor Edward Bramson, who controls a 5.5% stake in
Barclays, is pushing for a scaling back of the investment bank in
the face of opposition from Chief Executive Jes Staley. Investors
will vote on whether to grant Mr. Bramson a board seat next
week.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com;
@AdamDowJones
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2019 02:42 ET (06:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Barclays (LSE:BARC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Barclays (LSE:BARC)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024