Barclays swings back to profit in 2018, sets cash aside for Brexit

Barclays reported a full-year net profit of £1.4 billion ($1.82 billion) for 2018 on Thursday, swinging back to profit from 2017 losses.

In 2017, the British bank posted a significant loss of £1.92 billion, after it was hit by a one-off £901 million charge on U.S. deferred tax assets.

Barclays also set aside a Brexit provision of £150 million.

"In the fourth-quarter, we took a special impairment charge of £150 million, given the uncertainty around Brexit. We think that was a prudent and proper thing to do in the fourth-quarter," Jes Staley, chief executive officer of Barclays told CNBC Thursday.

"There is a lot of uncertainty out there. What is important for Barclays is we are a British bank and we are staying committed to the U.K."

Here are some other takeaways from Barclays' 2018 results:

• The bank reported its 2018 core capital ratio at 13.2 percent, unchanged from the previous year.
• Group profit before tax increased 20% to £5.7 billion
• Earnings per share excluding litigation and conduct for the full year was 21.9p.

The bank was recently in the news after a report in the Financial Times stated that U.S. hedge fund Tiger Global Management sold all of its stake in Barclays.

The New York-based hedge fund had been one of the top 10 investors in Barclays and held a stake of 2.5 percent in the bank.

The exit comes at a time when Barclays is facing pressure from activist investor Edward Bramson forcing his way on to the board. Bramson's Sherborne Investors holds a 5.5 percent stake in the bank.

According to Reuters, Bramson has in the past urged Barclays to reduce resources allocated to its investment units.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

from Top News & Analysis https://ift.tt/2GGCuWP