Barclays Shares Lower Despite Solid Q1 Results and £500m Buyback

Barclays (LON: BARC) shares fell more than 3% in early trading following its first-quarter results before trimming some of its losses, despite reporting a solid set of figures and announcing a new £500 million share buyback.

The lender posted a return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 13.5% for the first quarter of 2026, down slightly from 14.0% a year earlier, while earnings per share rose 8% to 14.1p. Profit before tax increased to £2.8 billion from £2.7 billion, supported by a 6% rise in group income to £8.2 billion.

Chief executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan said: “Barclays delivered another solid quarter with a 13.5% RoTE in Q126, and double-digit returns in all our businesses.”

WELCOME BONUS - Free Share Bundle When You Invest £50! Open a UK Investment Account: Shares, ISAs, Managed Portfolio Invest in 15,000+ shares and ETFs. Open an account now, invest at least £50, and you’ll get a free share bundle worth between £40 and £200. T&Cs apply. IG

5.0

View Offers

Empfohlener Broker Multi Asset Platform

Social-Trading-Pionier mit Aktien, ETFs, Krypto und CFDs, Copy Trading inklusive. eToro

5.0

Weitere Informationen 50% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

He added that income growth was “driven by broad based divisional performance including in the Investment Bank, where we generated over £4bn quarterly income for the first time.”

However, results were impacted by higher impairments, with credit charges rising to £0.8 billion and the loan loss rate increasing to 74 basis points. This included a £200 million single-name impairment in the investment bank. The bank also recorded a £100 million litigation and conduct charge, “primarily reflected an increase in the provision for the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) motor finance redress scheme”.

Despite these headwinds, Barclays improved its cost:income ratio to 56% and maintained a strong capital position, with a CET1 ratio of 14.1%. The bank reiterated its targets, including a RoTE above 12% in 2026.

Barclays said it remains confident in delivering its medium-term goals, supported by “the breadth and quality” of its businesses.