Barclays on Thursday reported a full-year profit of £1.53 billion ($2.11 billion) for 2020, down 38% from 2019 but outstripping analyst expectations.
The British lender posted a fourth-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders of £220 million, despite the U.K. navigating fresh nationwide lockdown measures amid a resurgence of Covid-19.
Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected a fourth-quarter net loss of £44.88 million to bring about a full-year net profit of £1.22 billion.
The final earnings report of 2020 followed a surprisingly strong third quarter in which the bank recorded a £611 million net profit.
Full-year profit in the previous year came in at £2.46 billion with a 2019 fourth-quarter profit of £681 million.
Other highlights:
- Common equity tier one capital (CET1) ratio was 15.1%, up from 14.6% at the end of the third quarter.
- Return on tangible equity (RoTE) was 3.2%, down from 5.1% the previous quarter.
- Net interest margin (NIM) was 2.61%, down from 3.09% at the end of 2019.
Barclays also announced that it would resume dividend payments to shareholders of one pence per share and embark on a £700 million share buyback.
Source: cnbc.com
