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Barclays (BCS) Q1 Earnings Improve, Revenues & Costs Down

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Barclays (BCS - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2019 net income attributable to ordinary equity holders of £1.04billion ($1.36 billion). This reflects improvement from net loss of £764 million ($1.01 billion) incurred in the prior-year quarter.

Shares of Barclays on the NYSE declined nearly 2.7% in pre-market trading. Nonetheless, a full day trading will provide a better picture.

Results reflect lower operating expenses and a strong balance sheet position. However, a decline in net operating income and higher credit impairment charges were the headwinds.

Revenues & Costs Decline

Net operating income was £4.80 billion ($6.25 billion), down 5%from the prior-year quarter. The decline was mainly due to lower net fee, commission and other income.

Operating expenses (excluding litigation and conduct costs) totaled £3.26 billion ($4.25 billion), down 3% from the year-ago quarter.

Cost to income ratio was 63%, down from 99%.

Credit impairment charges jumped 56% to £448 million ($583.7 million).

Pre-tax income was £1.48billion ($1.93 billion) against pre-tax loss of £236 million ($310.7 million) in the year-ago quarter.

Segmental Performance

Barclays U.K.: Profit before tax was £585 million ($762.2 million), up significantly from £170 million ($223.8 million) in the year-ago quarter. Stable net operating income and lower operating expenses supported the segment’s performance.

Barclays International: Profit before tax was £1.12billion ($1.46 billion), down 21% from the prior-year quarter. The fall was mainly due weak performance in corporate and investment bank division.

Head Office: Loss before tax was £220 million ($286.6 million), narrower than loss of £1.82 billion ($2.40 billion) in the prior-year quarter.

Strong Balance Sheet and Capital Ratios

Total assets as of Mar 31, 2019, were £1,193.5 billion ($1,554.2 billion), up 5% sequentially.

As of Mar 31, 2019, Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 13.0%, up from 12.7% on Mar 31, 2018.

Total risk-weighted assets were £319.7 billion ($416.3 billion) as of Mar 31, 2019.

Outlook

The company targets to achieve return on tangible equity of greater than 9% in 2019 and more than 10% in 2020.

Operating expenses (excluding litigation and conduct charges) are expected to be £13.6-£13.9 billion in 2019. In case the challenging operating backdrop persists, management expects to reduce costs below £13.6 billion.

Our View

Barclays continues to face pressure on revenues due to low interest rates across the globe. Nonetheless, its efforts to restructure and simplify operations by divesting non-core businesses are commendable.

Barclays PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Barclays PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Barclays PLC Quote

Currently, Barclays carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Earnings Release Dates of Other Foreign Banks

Deutsche Bank (DB - Free Report) , HSBC Holdings (HSBC - Free Report) and Bank of Montreal (BMO - Free Report) are slated to report results on Apr 26, May 3 and May 29, respectively.

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